Remember Me Always
by starryshimmer
Summary: COMPLETE. Three little words he spoke to another broke her heart in ways he would never know. It's painful for her to remember him. She wants desperately to forget. And with the completed shikon no tama in her hands... she can. InuKag
1. Chapter One

**I changed one part of this chapter, because, I formerly had written that Naraku had taken on the appearance of Kikyo and shot the arrow through Inuyasha. But that wasn't true, so, I corrected it! Anyway, thanks to Devine-Red-Crayon and Angela for pointing that out! **

**This was actually originally going to be a one-shot, cuz I badly need a break from writing long stories, which give me writer's block every time I try to update, but it turned out too long for that. It's still going to be pretty short, ranging from five to ten chapters. Anyway, that's enough of my babbling... Enjoy the story!**

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Inuyasha series.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

.:Chapter One:.

The first stars of the night timidly illuminated the skies, blazing like a cluster of fiery white embers. Twilight was fading, taking all light and warmth with it, to sink into the black hole of night. The sun had retreated to its invisible haven beyond the golden horizon, leaving the moon to begin its nightly reign.

Ghostly pale fingers painted the clear cerulean skies to a darkness reminiscent of coal, leaving no light to shine on the world, save for a few pinpricks of radiance to dance around the phantom of the sun.

A reckless breeze whistled expressly, whipping through the air like a careless whirlwind, destroying everything in its path.

Kagome shivered despite herself as a passing wind tossed her unbound ebony locks violently back. She pulled her knees closer towards her chest, hoping to preserve the last bit of warmth she might have.

There was only one thing that could keep her out in the bitter cold this late, with nothing but a flimsy school uniform and the company of an ancient cherry blossom tree to shield her from the biting wind.

She was waiting for him.

Inuyasha.

The hanyou she fell in love with.

It had been a while ago when she realized this undeniable truth, but she had never mustered the courage nor seen the need to expose her feelings to Inuyasha in the past.

But the past was over now.

The fight was over. Naraku was defeated, and the shikon no tama was complete.

Kagome instinctively laid a hand on the small purple gem at her neck, aware of how familiar the jewel now felt to her. It was reassuring to know that the small gem was now safe from the grasp of Naraku, whose cruel intentions would stain it black, but the completed jewel was also a burden to Kagome.

Now that the shikon was complete and her position as shard seeker was no longer needed, she worried that perhaps Inuyasha would expect her to go home permanently.

Kagome felt something squeeze her heart. Did Inuyasha see her merely as a shard seeker?

She hugged her knees tightly. Whatever the consequences, she was determined to confess her feelings to Inuyasha. Perhaps her love could awaken some feelings from inside him. Kagome was hopeful. Besides, she couldn't keep it in any longer.

Especially since there was a feeling of foreboding forever tugging at her chest every second she wasted with Inuyasha in the shadows of her emotions.

And that was precisely why she had made this appointment with Inuyasha, to meet her by this ancient cherry blossom tree, swaying under the light of the moon and stars. When he arrived, she would tell him she loved him.

Would that solve everything? Kagome had to believe it would. At the very least, it would release her from the heavy obscurity that shadowed her every second she kept Inuyasha in the dark.

But she couldn't help but notice the long delay in Inuyasha's presence.

Kagome gazed out across the moonlit meadow. Her eyes impulsively found the trunk of a particularly old tree in the distance.

It was the very same tree that Inuyasha had been bound to for fifty years. Bound by the spelled arrow of the miko priestess, Kikyo.

The tree was the heart of one of Inuyasha's most painful memories.

Kagome felt herself get up. It was like seeing herself move from another person's point of view. She didn't know where she was headed; her body seemed to have a mind of its own.

The shivering tree came into clearer view as Kagome made her way distractedly toward it. She felt that she could almost feel the dry, wrinkled bark under her cold, moonlit fingers.

The insolent breeze suddenly attacked her again, propelling her night black hair into her face with exuberance.

Kagome ignored the assault, faltering in her steps. The wind had carried a familiarly unwelcome scent to her nose.

It was Inuyasha's smell mixed in with the earthy stench of… Kikyo.

_'Did Inuyasha ditch me to meet Kikyo?'_

Kagome hugged her jacket closer around her as a brief dose of jealousy stabbed her heart. She was jealous that Kikyo had always been the one who could draw Inuyasha away from his intended schedule, even if it meant ditching someone else.

Kagome walked towards the tree at a quickened pace, and Kikyo's monotone voice gradually came within her range of hearing.

Kagome crouched doubtlessly behind a shelter of tall grass, and peered out intently, without a feeling of guilt perturbing her mind that she was eavesdropping.

Inuyasha was standing by a rippling blue lake in his signature red haori, targeting Kikyo with an intense gaze that was unusual to appear on his customary indifferent face. Kikyo sat on a flat rock a few feet away, delicately rinsing a twig of green leaves in the water, not seeming to notice the presence of the newly arrived. Kagome guessed that the leaves were of herbal value.

"You came." Kikyo's voice was emotionless, but softer than usual. She paused a moment in her work to spare a glance at the object of her statement.

Inuyasha didn't say anything, and he turned away before their eyes could lock.

"What will you do next, Inuyasha?" Kikyo tilted her head to catch Inuyasha's eyes with her own again. A hint of mild curiosity tainted her otherwise indifferent voice. She paused a moment before continuing, "Naraku is defeated. And the shikon no tama is complete and purified, I believe?"

Inuyasha grunted his consent.

Kikyo was about to speak again, when the hanyou suddenly interrupted.

"You want me to use it to become human." It was more of a statement than a question.

Kikyo stood up and walked slowly towards Inuyasha. Her gaze flickered in the direction of the tall grass concealing Kagome, but it was in a second's time. Kagome couldn't even be sure it happened.

Kikyo reached out to Inuyasha's face almost tentatively, as if she had long forgotten how it felt to touch the flesh of the living. With her pale, slender fingers, she brushed away the tangle of white hair covering the hanyou's face. Inuyasha flinched slightly at the contact, as if, he too had forgotten the feeling of being touched.

"You remember," Kikyo whispered. Emotion that didn't seem possible for a dead woman to possess flashed momentarily across the miko's pale face. "I thought you-"

She was cut off with Inuyasha's word of protest. "I **_never_** forgot." He took Kikyo's hand suddenly and held it between both of his own. "I never forgot about you. During those fifty years of being bound to the tree by your arrow." He looked at Kikyo in the eyes for the first time since he first arrived. "You haunted my thoughts every second."

Kikyo smiled. "Of course. You hated me fervently."

Inuyasha looked away in admittance. "But now we both know the truth. Everything was just a trick Naraku played to corrupt the shikon no tama."

"But even so, after Naraku took on your appearance and attacked me, I truly thought it had been you. I truly thought everything you ever said had been a plot of deception. And a burning fire of hatred overwhelmed me. And I am sure, that after what I did to you, you felt the desire to rip your claws through me the way Naraku did." After a pause, Kikyo continued, somewhat sadly, "Do not deny it, Inuyasha. You hated me. As I hated you."

The said hanyou replied with a little impatience in his tone. "I can't say I didn't hate you. I hated you more than anything else when I saw the arrow coming toward me, and your vengeful face in the background."

Kikyo smiled serenely, and looked at the ground. "I did not expect any less. I can scarcely forget the burning hatred I developed toward you." She pierced his gaze with her tranquil gray eyes. "So, I suppose, now that Naraku is defeated and the shikon no tama is safe again, you will have no need of me anymore." She looked at the hanyou before her almost sadly. "When I look at you sometimes, I see a flicker of the old hatred of me lingering in your eyes. You say you have not forgotten. That is true, I suppose. You evidently still remember the pain and betrayed feelings I must have caused you that fateful day." Kikyo looked away, her brows knitted together delicately. "I suppose, now that you have no further need of me, you shall be sending me back to death?"

Kagome held her breath. What exactly was Kikyo trying to do?

Inuyasha looked away. "I don't have to do that."

"I do not wish to stay in a body made of soil for the rest of eternity, Inuyasha." Kikyo smiled mildly. "And you should definitely understand what it feels like to live feeding on hatred. After all, during those fifty years of confinement, surely-"

"I can't kill you."

Kikyo placed a hand gently on Inuyasha's face. "Yes," she said sadly. "You **_can't_** kill me." She smiled bitterly. "I'm already dead. I should not be here, among the living."

Inuyasha growled impatiently. "Your hatred for me was so strong when you thought I was the one who killed you, that it was possible for you to be brought back to life through it. And now, if I **_really_** kill you-"

"It's different this time," Kikyo said simply. "If I have to leave this world a second time, I want your face to be the last I see. That is all."

Inuyasha turned his head to meet Kikyo's calm gaze. "I can't," he snapped. Before the miko could speak, he continued, on a softer note, "Although you've done more than your share of damage, and you pose the biggest threat now that Naraku is gone, I still can't. Like I said, I can't forget. About you, or about my… love for you. I-"

A prolonging silence dawned on the two, both finding themselves unable to say anything.

Kagome felt her heart clench together. Although she had known about Inuyasha's past love for Kikyo, it was still hard hearing him say it so plainly.

Finally, Kikyo placed her arms placidly around Inuyasha's neck. "Always know that I love you, Inuyasha." She looked up and added, "If it may be possible to love in this despicable body of earth."

Kagome was about to turn and leave, when she saw Kikyo turn her gaze quite obviously in her direction. She froze in her steps.

"It is true that I do not wish to spend the rest of eternity in this body of soil," Kikyo began. "But that definitely does not mean I have to die again, it is merely that… I cannot live using **_this_** body anymore," she whispered plaintively to Inuyasha.

The hanyou looked at her in confusion.

"You do love me, do you not?" Kikyo questioned.

"I-"

Kikyo continued, "I will forever be a broken woman made of soil and hatred unless I acquire a complete soul. If I can obtain a soul powerful enough, it can restore me to my former self." She searched Inuyasha's eyes. "I could be a living woman again, breathing and able to love. I could once again be the woman you fell in love with."

The hanyou was silent.

Kikyo went on, "There is one soul I know of that can fulfill the requirements. You know of her, too."

Kikyo's words shook Inuyasha from his trance. "Kagome?" he muttered in a low voice.

The said girl shuddered involuntarily from her spot. So **_this_** was what Kikyo had brought Inuyasha here for.

_'In the end, it's all a plot to get rid of me,'_ Kagome realized with a growing fear. _'And Inuyasha's falling for it…'_

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

**Is the conversation between Inuyasha and Kikyo too long? I tried to cut out some parts, so it wouldn't sound as if i were babbling on and on, but all the stuff they say are important. It would sound wierd if i cut out something. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Suggestions would be appreciated, but no flames, please!**


	2. Chapter Two

**Hey everyone! Well, here's my re-edit of the second chapter! Some parts are different. Thanks to humble-bumble for pointing out that the wish Kagome made was selfish and that the purified shikon no tama isn't supposed to grant selfish wishes. I thought about it, and decided to change it! Anyway, and to all of you, don't worry, this is a Inuyasha and Kagome fic! But I'm not gonna do any Kikyo-bashing either. **

* * *

Remember Me Always

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Summary: Three little words he spoke to another broke her heart in ways he would never know. It's painful for her to remember him. She wants desperately to forget. And with the completed shikon no tama in her hands… she can. InuKag

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters from the series.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

[Last Chapter]

Kikyo continued, "I will forever be a broken woman made of soil and hatred unless I acquire a complete soul. If I can obtain a soul powerful enough, it can restore me to my former self." She searched Inuyasha's eyes. "I could be a living woman again, breathing and able to love. I could once again be the woman you fell in love with."

The hanyou was silent.

Kikyo went on, "There is one soul I know of that can fulfill the requirements. You know of her, too."

Kikyo's words shook Inuyasha from his trance. "Kagome?" he muttered in a low voice.

The said girl shuddered involuntarily from her spot. So **_this_** was what Kikyo had brought Inuyasha here for.

_'In the end, it's all a plot to get rid of me,' _Kagome realized with growing fear. _'And Inuyasha's falling for it…'_

[End]

.:Chapter Two:.

Kagome shivered impulsively, chilled by the biting wind and the words of the conversation she was listening in on. The tall blades of grass concealing her occasionally bent over to mar her skin with slight bruises, but she paid them no heed, so intent was she on watching the two people rendezvousing in the moonlit clearing.

The tall woman adorned with traditional red-and-white miko robes was speaking, her tranquil gray eyes forever gazing into the rusty golden orbs of the white-haired hanyou before her.

"With Kagome's soul in my possession," she was saying, a slight smile gracing her normally emotionless features, "I would be _alive_ again, Inuyasha. Breathing. Able to **_love_**." An emotion akin to sadness wavered on her pale moonlit face as she smiled at the hanyou. "Things could go back to the way they should have been."

Inuyasha frowned. "If it's Kagome's soul you want, then that's impossible," he muttered. "Every time you're anywhere near her, the bit of soul you stole from her tries to escape. She'd sooner drag away the last bit of soul you have than you'd get the rest of the soul that remains in her."

Kikyo inclined her head slightly. "That is true, for now. But it will all change once the girl is dead."

Kagome's eyes widened. An unexpected trail of perspiration warmed her cold skin as it found its way down her face. She instinctively thought to turn to Inuyasha, whom she had always relied on for protection since long ago. But then she remembered that he was in on the plot, and a skin-tingling fear that of which she had never known of before crept into her.

Disappointment added to her fright when Inuyasha offered no objection to Kikyo's obvious threat.

Instead, he allowed the miko to continue, seeming to be deep in contemplation. "You see," she was saying, tilting her head slightly to meet Inuyasha downward gaze. "I have come to the understanding that the reason the soul within me attempts to flee back to Kagome whenever she is nearby, is that she possesses one chiefly important thing of which I have no access to."

Kikyo gently took Inuyasha's idle hand and placed it on her chest. "The advantage Kagome has is in her heart. She has a real, emotion-enabled heart. The heart is a very precious thing, Inuyasha. Kagome has a heart that is purer than mine, as mine is only capable of one emotion – hatred. It appears the emotions in Kagome's heart are exceptionally willful as well, and that would explain why they are able to fight the binding spell I placed on the piece of her soul I have captured. Additionally, the binding spell I place to keep the souls I steal within me is created from hatred, as that is the only and therefore strongest emotion that resides in my earthen heart. Kagome has so much more emotions within her that are able to withstand and overpower hatred, that my binding spell is rendered ineffective whenever she is around. When that occurs, the souls within me are free to roam."

Kagome could almost be sure she saw a not-so-innocent smirk behind Kikyo's calm smile.

The said miko continued on to her conclusion, "So you see, Inuyasha," she said softly. "Her heart is her strength, and it is my weakness. However, once she is dead, her heart shall die as well. There will be no more barriers and resistance to stop me. Just before her heart beats for the last time, I can take the rest of her soul at my leisure."

Inuyasha said nothing.

There were a precious few seconds where all that could be heard was the musical whistling of the wind, and the shiver of the ancient tree, its ruby autumn leaves falling to ripple the clear blue lake.

Kagome silently wished that time could just freeze in that one peaceful moment, as it could remind her of nothing sad nor happy – it was just a moment of balance, where everything seemed to live in harmony.

Inuyasha, who had been quiet for the most part, ironically was the one to break the silence. "Can't you use the shikon no tama and wish yourself a complete soul?" he suddenly asked.

Kikyo laughed bitterly. "The shikon no tama cannot conjure anything out of thin air. To give me a complete soul would be to steal it from someone else. The old shikon jewel is purified now, and would not consent to such a wish at the cost of the well-being of others."

"What abou-"

"This is the only way, Inuyasha," Kikyo interrupted. "Lose that girl whom you have met for a mere two years, or lose me, the woman you loved." She paused for a moment, and searched the hanyou's troubled amber eyes. "_Whom_ do you love, Inuyasha? Me or her?"

Inuyasha's frown deepened, and he tore his gaze away from the miko standing before him.

Kagome held her breath. It had finally come. This was the moment everything had been leading up to. Or at least, for her it was.

After a moment of much tension, the hanyou muttered gruffly, "I don't know."

Kikyo gave a loud, bitter laugh. "How can you not know, Inuyasha?" Her serene gray eyes glittered slightly in the moonlight, suggesting that there were tears trapped inside. "Do you not… remember?"

For the first time in a long time, no malice tainted Kikyo's pale face. There was only sorrow – the story of a tragedy written on her expression. She placed a hand delicately on the wrinkling bark of the fateful old tree near her.

"Remember all those moonlit nights you watched me from your place on the branches of this tree?" Kikyo questioned, and her voice faltered. "A-and I sat on this rock, mixing herbs for the village people?" Tears that seemed as if they had been constricted for years flowed freely from her sad gray eyes. "R-remember-"

She buried her face in Inuyasha's shoulder as he enveloped her in a comforting embrace.

Kagome's heart sank. Inuyasha had never held her like that. He hardly even bothered to call her back when she returned to the other side of the well without telling him.

Kikyo lifted her face from Inuyasha's shoulder long enough to ask in a faltering voice, "Is this your answer, then, Inuyasha? Do you-"

"Yeah," Inuyasha said immediately. "I love… you, Kikyo," he completed with some difficulty.

Kagome felt as if her heart has just been torn to pieces by the claws of a wild beast.

A small voice inside Kagome's head laughed. _'Inuyasha loves Kikyo_,' it said jeeringly. _'Inuyasha loves Kikyo! Inuyasha loves Kikyo! Inuyasha-'_

"NO!" Kagome shouted, wiping the tears away from her eyes. She stood up, shaking, just as Inuyasha turned his gaze abruptly to meet hers.

"Ka-kagome?" he said in surprise. Kikyo lifted her face from Inuyasha's shoulder slightly. It was enough for Kagome to see the mocking smile reflected in her tearstained eyes.

_'He doesn't even have the decency to push Kikyo away,'_ Kagome thought, tears spilling anew. _'He won't even let go of her when I'm here.' _A new thought appeared to her. _'What I think about him doesn't matter to him.'_

"Y-you-" Kagome stammered, her speech interrupted with sobs.

Kagome walked with unsure steps until she was close enough to Inuyasha for him to hear her. Kikyo immediately detached herself from the hanyou, and backed away, no doubt fearing for the souls bound within her.

Inuyasha stared at Kagome with his customary indifferent expression.__

Kagome managed a cracked, bitter laugh. "T-that's the o-only expression you'll e-ever have f-for me," she said softly. "Indifference."

Before he could say a word, Kagome turned around and ran, as if for her life.

Her thoughts impulsively flitted back to the plot Kikyo had discussed with Inuyasha.

_'Perhaps I _**am**_ running for my life,'_ she thought bitterly.

However, even after everything that had happened, she still couldn't help but hope that Inuyasha would come after her, yelling for her to come back, telling her that he loved her, and not Kikyo.

_'Please, Inuyasha. Ask me to stay, and I will. Just ask.'_

But he never did.

There were no footsteps following Kagome's as she ran aimlessly through the dim, starlit meadows.

She could not recall a time when she had felt more lost, more forsaken.

Suddenly, Kagome's foot came in contact with a hard object lodged into the ground, and before she could stop herself, she had fallen face first into the grass.

Her frame shook uncontrollably as she sobbed into the ground, her tears mingling with the soil.

Inuyasha loved Kikyo.

_"I was just a shard seeker to Inuyasha,'_ Kagome thought sadly.

She remembered sorrowfully the times when Inuyasha had been kind, almost caring towards her. Had that been real?

_'All he saw in me was a copy of Kikyo,'_ Kagome told herself, not wanting to stir up false hopes again. _'And when she appeared, he completely forgot about me.'_

Kagome pulled herself up from the ground. "He forgot about me!" she screamed to the fateful well near her. The wind muffled her voice, and echoed her words as a mumbled cry, rich in pain and sorrow.

Kagome clutched the shikon no tama hanging at her neck with fumbling fingers.

"He forgot… about me," she whispered, her tears falling to burn her hand.

"Forgot…"

"I w-want to forget," Kagome realized, her heart clenching together. "I want to forget all the pain and hopes that were shattered. I want to forget about my heart being broken. I wish this was all just a big nightmare…"

Kagome crumpled over and gave in to her sobs. She felt she could cry until the sun set the next morning.

A sudden glowing erupted from the shikon no tama in her hands. Kagome drew back in wonder as moonlight danced on the shining purple jewel.

"Is that truly your wish?" a woman's voice asked. Kagome could not find the source of the sound. She stared reluctantly at the shikon no tama in her hands.

"I am Midoriko," the voice added on a kinder note.

Kagome's eyes widened. "You mean, Midoriko, the miko who created the shikon no tama?"

"Yes, I see you have heard of me."

"Where… are you – I mean what-" Kagome mumbled, as she tried to incorporate that it was reality – that she was talking to the shikon no tama.

Midoriko laughed pleasantly. "Part of my soul became trapped within the shikon no tama while I was creating it," she explained. "Even I was unaware of this."

"Oh." Kagome bit her lip. "Am I… allowed to make a wish, then?" she asked uncertainly.

"Yes. One wish."

Kagome took a deep breath. "I wish to forget about everything that happened since I entered this side of the well," she said without stumbling on her words. She had come to this decision, and she felt there was no going back anymore.

"Are you certain?" Midoriko asked kindly. "That is a big wish to make. Are you sure you shall not regret it?"

Kagome smiled sadly. "I'll definitely miss my friends over here, but I've relied on them more than they've relied on me. They'll be okay."

"And you?"

"I'll be okay, too."

"So you are going to make this wish?"

"Yeah." Kagome hesitated. "You don't think this wish is too…?" She started over. "I mean I've heard that the shikon no tama can only grant one wish… and-"

"If you are worrying that your wish is centered around selfish needs, you need not. It has actually probably been hazardous these years with you knowing about and being able to use the well as a portal. If more people from your side of the well found out about it, something terrible could happen. Perhaps the well would grant entrance to more people. Do you understand? History could become completely warped."

Kagome thought on this.

"Erasing your memory of this side of the well means erasing the last trace of possibility of people from your side finding out about it."

"So it's okay?" Kagome asked.

"Well, I do not know if I am the right person to ask," Midoriko laughed. "After all, I am just a portion of the soul of a decayed old woman trapped inside her own foolish creation. But for what it is worth, I think so, and I think other people would, too," Midoriko replied in a pleasant voice. "But before it happens, I would like to say thank you."

Kagome looked surprised. "Why?"

A smile could be heard in Midoriko's musical voice. "As you know, the shikon no tama was created with the ability to fulfill only one wish. Once that is completed, it will disappear. When it disappears, the part of my soul trapped inside will finally be freed. So, thank you, little one. For freeing my soul."

"You're welcome," Kagome replied politely. It lightened her spirits that she was about to help someone, but because of recent events, she was unable to smile.

"State your wish again, and it will be granted."

Kagome nodded. She closed her eyes for the effect. "I wish to forget about everything that happened on this side of the portal well."

Nothing happened.

Kagome didn't know what she had expected – perhaps it was a loud explosion or something of the sort – but absolutely nothing changed.

Kagome glanced down at the jewel in her hands. It was as it had always been, with no particular glow to it.

Had she imagined everything?

Kagome sighed in disappointment.

Then, abruptly, the shikon no tama disintegrated into a million tiny specks of sparkling dust.

It was the most beautiful thing she had seen in a long time.

But it wasn't as beautiful as a bed would be to her at the moment. She was feeling incredibly sleepy.

"You won't remember anything when you wake up," a woman's voice suddenly spoke. Kagome frowned. Who was that again?

"Thank you, and take care, little one."

A sudden screech pierced the air.

Kagome fell with a soft thump on the grass.

"Inuyasha," she muttered before drifting off into a deep slumber.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

**Is this any better than last time? Hopefully it is! Anyway, suggestions and comments greatly appreciated! I can make so many mistakes, really! Anyway, I'll try to update sooner next time!**


	3. Chapter Three

**Sorry this is such a short chapter! It's because I've been so busy lately although I've wanted to update for a long time. So the result is an extra short chapter! But hopefully it'll be good even though it's short! Enjoy!**

* * *

Remember Me Always 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Summary: Three little words he spoke to another broke her heart in ways he would never know. It's painful for her to remember him. She wants desperately to forget. And with the completed shikon no tama in her hands... she can. InuKag

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters from the series.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

**Last Chapter**

"Then, abruptly, the shikon no tama disintegrated into a million tiny specks of sparkling dust.

It was the most beautiful thing she had seen in a long time.

But it wasn't as beautiful as a bed would be to her at the moment. She was feeling incredibly sleepy.

"You won't remember anything when you wake up," a woman's voice suddenly spoke. It sounded strangely faded. Kagome frowned. Who was that again?

"Thank you, and take care, little one."

A sudden screech pierced the air.

Kagome fell with a soft thump on the grass.

"Inuyasha," she muttered, before drifting off into a deep slumber.

**End**

.:Chapter Three:.

_The honey-streaked sky met the tranquil sapphire ocean in an explosion of gold and pastel. Droplets of pink, orange, crimson, and amber splattered the yellowing sky magnificently, like a show of silent fireworks. _

_The fiery orb that was the sun made its daily envoy with careless leisure, and with each step of descent, its dewy light faded perceptibly from its place over the jade-green meadows. _

_A white haired boy clothed in a red haori stood motionlessly in the distance, the sunset reflecting peacefully on his silvery mane. His clawed hand rested carelessly on the trunk of an old, faded tree, which bore a strange puncture mark in the midst of its wrinkled bark. _

_The boy appeared to be at harmony with his surroundings, never moving, never uttering a sound. Standing at the side of a faded cherry blossom tree that had long been flowerless, just watching the golden sunset paint the otherwise colorless sky. It was a like a scene from a forgotten fairytale; beautiful but somehow sad at the same time. _

_A restless breeze suddenly attacked him, breaking the picture-perfect scene, ruffling the sleeves of his red haori, and sending his peaceful white hair to fly._

_"Inuyasha," a girl's voice suddenly said. It was barely audible, attacked by the ruthless wind, and muffled by the heat of the day, but it was there. _

_"Inuyasha…"_

_The boy turned around briefly, responding to the call, which could be assumed as his name, and for a mere second, his eyes were visible._

_Gold._

_Two orbs of gold, reflecting a sadness that didn't seem too foreign for their owner to bear. _

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Cold and… wet.

Kagome groaned as she brushed droplets of water from her face, subconsciously rubbing at the sores she felt only too vividly on her shoulders and neck.

It was the strangest feeling. She was exhausted beyond what she had ever experienced, and she could almost feel the shadow of tears tugging at her swollen eyes. But when had she cried?

And then there was this jumble of incoherent voices screaming frenziedly in her head. Perhaps she was going crazy…

Kagome gave a shrill shriek of protest as another wave of ice cold water assaulted her face.

She _was _going crazy…

But at least the unintelligible voices screeching in her mind were slowly gaining lucidity. They still didn't make much sense, but at least they were clear.

"Kagome! Hello? Are you there?"

"It's not helping, grandpa."

"Huh? Oh, sure it will! Try it again."

"Alright… Here goes…"

Kagome heard the only too familiar sound of sloshing water.

Feeling as if she hadn't spoken in years, she managed to croak, eyes still closed, "STOP!"

A drop of water landed precariously on her nose.

_'Oh well. I suppose it couldn't have been avoided…'_

Kagome rubbed her eyes open to a most peculiar scene.

It could have been a movie held on pause, for all the movement that was happening.

Kagome managed to raise her rusty eyebrows as she looked up at her grandpa and brother. It seemed that they had frozen the moment she had spoken.

Souta had a bucket of water in his hands, tipped slightly forward, and a mere three inches or so from Kagome's face.

Her grandpa had a small 'o' formed at his mouth, and looked mildly apologetic.

They both stared wide-eyed at Kagome, as if she was some red-eyed demon of sorts.

Kagome clapped a hand to her forehead. She must have a fever. Since when were the stereotype monsters red-eyed demons?

A brief flash of gold occupied Kagome's vision. And then white. And red.

Kagome shook her head fiercely. No matter how much her mind screamed 'déjà vu' at her; she couldn't bring herself to believe that she'd seen something as strange as what she was thinking.

A golden-eyed, white-haired, red-robed boy?

It was out of this world.

"K-kagome?" Souta eyed his fuming sister uncertainly. An angry Kagome was not something to be dealt with easily. But an angry Kagome who was motioning to herself and mouthing incoherent words?

Caution was needed. Greatly.

Kagome abruptly turned her head to face her nervous brother, eyes narrowed and mouth stretched taut in a characteristic frown.

"Yeeeesss?" she prolonged the word venomously, remembering her situation. She had been lost for quite a while in her own world of confusion.

"What were you doing sleeping out here?" Souta questioned, his fear of Kagome's temper overwhelmed by curiosity.

"I'll answer that when you tell me why exactly you and grandpa were pouring buckets of water on my face," the grouchy girl snapped. Then a peculiar expression dawned on her face. She observed her surroundings reluctantly, almost afraid of what she'd see.

She was in the garden with the abandoned well. Why was she here?

She turned to her brother and grandpa warily. "I fell asleep here?"

They nodded in chorus.

A distant look dawned on Kagome's face. "But that's impossible," she murmured, closing her eyes. "When I fell asleep I was…" her voice trailed off.

No. She couldn't say it. She didn't need her family thinking she was on the verge of mental instability.

"Yes?" her grandpa urged on gently.

Kagome opened her dark brown eyes. "N-nothing," she muttered. "Let's get back to the house."

She refused the help of her brother and grandpa upon standing up. After all, it wasn't like she was crippled or _really_ insane.

Or was she? What was with her lately, with all these blurred faces and incoherent voices haunting her thoughts and dreams? And the feeling that she'd seen them before?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

"Where is the damn girl?"

"You've been asking that for the past hour, Inuyasha. And I'll say _this _one more time. We don't know."

"Shut up, Miroku."

"Only when you do."

"Alright, what did you do this time, Inuyasha?" Sango asked, trying to sound stern while attempting to stay standing. Much to her dismay, Shippo had climbed onto the top of her head so he could glare at Inuyasha at his eye level.

"Yeah, what did you do, you big jerk?" he asked as meanly as he could.

Inuyasha growled menacingly.

"I didn't do anything."

"That's what you always say!" Shippo accused, pointing at Inuyasha to heighten the blame.

Inuyasha's claws twitched. "Well, there was this one thing…"

"Yes?" Sango prodded on, eyebrows twitching dangerously as Miroku leaned over her shoulder.

"The last time I saw her, she was crying," Inuyasha mumbled.

"And why was she crying?" Sango said slowly, as if speaking to a small child.

Inuyasha shot the demon exterminator an annoyed glance. "I don't know. But I think it might've been because of the conversation she was eavesdropping on."

"You were talking to yourself?" Miroku asked solemnly, lips twitching obviously from restrained laughter.

"No!" Inuyasha growled. "I was talking to Kikyo, you idiot!"

Miroku swiftly smacked Inuyasha on the head with his staff. "You're the idiot," he said seriously.

"Hmph."

"He's right, you know," Sango added, much to Miroku's delight. "For once," she said in emphasis, somewhat dampening the monk's grin.

* * *

**So... did you like it? It really helps me become a better writer (which i am not right now) when I get feedback on my writing. Suggestions and comments are greatly appreciated!**


	4. Chapter Four

**Sigh. Finally done with this chapter! This chapter is definitely up for an edit, which I will do later. If you have any suggestions, they would be appreciated.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Remember Me Always

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Summary: Three little words he spoke to another broke her heart in ways he would never know. It's painful for her to remember him. She wants desperately to forget. And with the completed shikon no tama in her hands... she can. InuKag

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters from the series.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

**Last Chapter**

"And why was she crying?" Sango said slowly, as if speaking to a small child.

Inuyasha shot the demon exterminator an annoyed glance. "I don't know. But I think it might've been because of the conversatin she was eavesdropping on."

"You were talking to yourself?" Miroku asked solemnly, lips twitching obviously from restrained laughter.

"No!" Inuyasha growled. "I was talking to Kikyo, you idiot!"

Miroku swiftly smacked Inuyasha on the head with his staff. "You're the idiot," he said seriously.

"Hmph."

"He's right, you know," Sango added, much to Miroku's delight. "For once," she said in emphasis, somewhat dampening the monk's grin.

**End**

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

.:Chapter Four:.

Kicking up dust and debris as he trudged grudgingly along the sandy village road, Inuyasha scowled, irritation written plainly on his face.

The flimsy door of Kaede's hut slammed resoundingly behind him, just barely missing the part of his haori that covered his rear end.

"This is for your own good, Inuyasha," a blend of three voices chorused from inside the hut.

Inuyasha growled. Since when had they started caring about what was good or not for him? He could just picture the happy, twisted faces of Sango, Miroku and Shippo laughing their hearts out as they dumped the awkward job of somehow getting Kagome to come back on him. Because he knew it wouldn't be an easy job. When Kagome got mad, she was prone to being completely unreasonable, only focused on arguing her point of the story and blandly ignoring everyone and everything else.

Inuyasha growled in frustration as he neared the portal well sitting comfortably in the midst of a rich collection of trees.

He didn't even know why the girl had been upset in the first place. The conversation was the most likely thing to have put her on edge, but it wasn't like she didn't know about him and Kikyo. She'd never gotten as upset like she had this time in the past, and Inuyasha had met with Kikyo almost every day!

What was different about that particular night?

Inuyasha pondered this as he swung himself expertly into the stone well.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

"Gonna be late. Late. Laaaaatttttteeeee!" Kagome screeched impatiently as she hastily filled her backpack and swung it carelessly over her arms, knocking a few things down from the table in the process.

The moment she'd managed to slip her backpack on completely, it was like a green light had suddenly flashed in front of her.

Without a moment more of hesitation, Kagome sped out of her room, through the hall, down the stairs, past the kitchen, and out the door.

The only thought that wandered her jumbled mind at the moment was the fact that she couldn't be late to school yet again. Mr. Hezuki had warned her about a month of detention for the next time she was late to class.

And she just couldn't afford that. So moving her arms forward and backward in an effort to pump her legs faster and faster, Kagome sprinted on.

She was so concentrated on moving as fast as was possible that she barely noticed the presence of someone in front of her before she bumped into him.

But it was too late when she finally spotted him. She couldn't stop running. She was traveling with the velocity of the wind.

"Hey, can you please MOVE!" she yelled forcefully to the brown-haired boy walking unsuspectingly in front of her. She didn't like being rude, but this was an emergency.

Fortunately for her, he did move.

But unfortunately, not in the way Kagome had wanted nor expected.

The boy turned his head around to look back at her.

"H-higurashi?" he recognized uncertainly.

The picture of Kagome looking ready to kill with her wild hair flying in all directions was definitely not a sight for the weak of stomach. It was a scary scene, indeed…

But Kagome had closer problems to worry about.

Just as the boy had barely managed to get the word of recognition out of his lips, Kagome rammed right into him.

Her face deepened several shades as she realized her lips had smacked right into those of the boy.

She couldn't believe it out of embarrassment and reluctance.

She was kissing _Hojo_.

This could evolve into a **_big_** misunderstanding.

Kagome desperately untangled herself from the boy, leaving them both to blush wildly.

Until Kagome glanced at her watch and was off again.

"You'd better hurry, too, unless you wanna be late!" she shouted back at Hojo, who seemed frozen in his steps.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Something felt wrong.

There was a bothersome pain somewhere from inside him that wouldn't be ignored.

It was like a sharpened iron fist conjured from swords was grasping his body, squeezing the life out of him.

And even through this pain that he dismissed as the consequences of lack of sleep, Inuyasha still couldn't wave away the voice in his head that was currently screaming things he couldn't understand.

Curling his hands into tight fists, he muttered a row of curses under his breath, inserting Kagome's name between every other word.

It **_was_** all her fault anyway. Inuyasha was sure of it.

If she hadn't gone on and listened to a conversation that didn't concern her, she wouldn't have blown up in the middle of it and huffed back to her side of the well.

And Inuyasha wouldn't have had to follow her and attempt to get her back.

And he wouldn't have had to see her kissing another guy.

It made him uncomfortable.

In his mind he had always had a place for Kagome. There was a portrait of her embedded in his thoughts, and she had always been alone in them. He knew that even when she was older, he still wouldn't be able to picture the presence of any other guy other than **_him_** living his life with her.

Inuyasha didn't know who that **_him_** was, because in his mind's eye his face had always been blank.

He had a good idea who that person, destined to be Kagome's soul mate, was, but he didn't want to believe it.

It was too impossible.

Inuyasha wanted Kagome to have a happy life, and he knew that with the guy destiny had picked out for her, she wouldn't.

Picking up his pace, Inuyasha bounded ruthlessly down the streets, pushing all thoughts from his mind as he ran through the car-populated roads.

His mind was much too occupied to notice that, although he had been extra careful to avoid the cars, one had come in contact with his leg. And gone right through it.

It left no mark at all.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Just as the final bell echoed loudly in the halls, Kagome slid into her classroom and threw herself into a chair, breathing raggedly.

Mr. Hezuki eyed her sternly, but to Kagome's relief, he flipped his pencil upside down and erased what she was sure to be her 'tardy' mark on the attendance sheet.

"Now then, class begins," the teacher informed, bringing the class down to a silence.

Kagome groaned as she set her head down on her desk, tuning out the teacher's monotone lecture.

Now, time to catch up on the hours of sleep she had lost to arrive on time to school…

"KAGOME!" the teacher bellowed.

Guess not…

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Her room smelled like a bouquet of fresh, dewy flowers.

The small bed squeaked momentarily as Inuyasha sat down on it, adjusting it to his comfort.

He rested his chin on his hand, observing the room with the eyes of a critic.

Because something was definitely wrong.

He knew it for sure now.

Something had definitely seemed different with Kagome, with the way she walked, the way she talked…

But this cut it.

Inuyasha recalled the time when Kagome had brought what she called a 'camera' (but of course, it was just a ridiculously bent box of some kind to him) to his side of the well.

The bright light that emitted from the little object had frightened him at first (but of course, he'd never admit it), but what came out from the side intrigued him.

It appeared to be a smooth parchment of some kind, stamped with the exact mirror image of himself.

It was a 'photo,' according to Kagome.

She had said that no matter what, she would always keep a picture of him in her room.

Inuyasha had seen it on the wall every single time he visited Kagome's house.

Even in the midst of some of their worst arguments, the picture had never left the white wall even a little.

So why couldn't he find it **_anywhere_** this time?

For some reason, the thought brought panic rising up his throat.

Just then, the door clicked. Inuyasha instinctively swung out the window and onto the branch of the overhanging tree.

When he saw that it was Kagome, however, he decided to face her.

That was the only way he could get some answers. About the kiss, and about the photo.

Inuyasha swung expertly back into the room.

Kagome didn't acknowledge his presence. It made him uncomfortable, knowing that she was this mad.

"Hey, bitch," he managed to grumble, although he had initially meant to apologize. It was just too hard…

But even with this, which Kagome usually responded in hitting him over the head… even this didn't spark any interest from Kagome.

The girl simply continued to do her work, unpacking her backpack and opening her textbooks.

Then, she turned around and looked right at him.

But Inuyasha had the strangest feeling that her unfocused eyes were reaching something **_beyond_** him.

"Buyo!" she said softly, getting up and walking past Inuyasha to pet her cat.

Inuyasha frowned.

Something was definitely wrong.

"What is wrong with you, Kagome?" he said loudly, throwing his hands into the air. "Stop ignoring me!"

With that, he placed a hand forcefully on Kagome's shoulder, turning her around to face him.

Her dark brown eyes didn't seem to see him at all.

Inuyasha stayed in her room until very late that day, talking to her. Pouring out his heart.

* * *

**So.... did you like it? Some parts will probably be changed after my edit, so please check back later! Comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated! And thanks for all the encouragement so far!**


	5. Chapter Five

**Woot woot! About halfway done with this story... or more? Anyway, I really want to have a complete story. But I'm really enjoying writing this! Anyway, I haven't edited my chapter four yet, but I decided to update instead!**

**So...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Remember Me Always

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Summary: Three little words he spoke to another broke her heart in ways he would never know. It's painful for her to remember him. She wants desperately to forget. And with the completed shikon no tama in her hands... she can. InuKag

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters from the series.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

**Last Chapter**

Then she turned around and looked right at him.

But Inuyasha had the strangest feeling that her unfocused eyes were reaching something _beyond_ him.

"Buyo!" she said softly, getting up and walking past Inuyasha to pet her cat.

Inuyasha frowned.

Something was definitely wrong.

"What is wrong with you, Kagome?" he said loudly, throwing his hands into the air. "Stop ignoring me!"

With that, he placed a hand forcefully on Kagome's shoulder, turning her around to face him.

Her dark brown eyes didn't seem to see him at all.

Inuyasha stayed in her room until very late that night, talking to her. Pouring out his heart.

**End**

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

.:Chapter Five:.

Darkness had invaded at last. An enthusiasm-lacking sliver of a moon paled pathetically in the sky, barely bright enough to attract the notice of any stars.

A frisky autumn wind tangled itself mid-frolic, in the warmth of waves of black satin curtains, escaping in mere wisps at a time.

A girl clothed in thin cotton pajamas, ornamented with prints of sleepy cats, shivered impulsively in her small compact bed. Eyes still closed, and brows furrowed, she reluctantly reached a hand out into the bitter air to pull the pink blankets closer around her. With another shiver, her brows loosened, and her breathing shallowed once more, proclaiming her dead to the world in her soundful sleep.

A pair of moonlit orbs glinted vibrantly from across the girl's sleeping form. The intense golden stare seemed to penetrate the girl's frail, petite form, and gaze right into the depths of her soul.

A length of silvery-white hair cascaded down the watcher's face, waving back and forth to irritate his anxious, taut skin. Without once averting his gaze, the boy shook his hair back into place, the rest of his body remaining still as a statue.

_'Why can't you see me…?'_

Strangely enough, he felt an intense ache tightening his chest. And it wasn't the first time he was feeling this either. No.

This annoying pain seemed to strike at him every time Kagome left, disappearing into the well. Inuyasha wasn't willing to dismiss it as fear – the fear that possibly, just one day, when Kagome traveled through the well she would never return again – but he was also reluctant to address what else it could be.

Inuyasha raised a clawed hand, frozen from disuse and tenseness, and pressed his chest forcefully, willing the pain away. He gasped in agony, the bloody throbbing of his heart tearing at the pure gold tint of his strained eyes. It felt like his heart was bleeding. Like there was a sharp thorn, poison dripping from its tip, grazing the surface of his heart.

And every time he breathed or moved the tiny spear would thrash into his heart, spilling blood and sucking life inside of him, refusing to let him forget the pain and be content…

Inuyasha suddenly dashed eagerly to the side of Kagome's bed.

If he could find it… If he could, he knew he could save Kagome from whatever amnesic dilemma she was in.

One wish. That was all it would take.

Inuyasha grazed the tip of Kagome's chin lightly with his claws, gently prying away the blankets she had secured so closely around her.

With careful fingers and savoring (though he would never admit to it) every tingle that contact with her skin brought, Inuyasha tactfully searched for it… the glistening purple jewel that he had wasted a total of seven years on recovering.

The Shikon no Tama.

It wasn't there. Inuyasha half-heartedly sat down on Kagome's small pink bed, and contemplated this problem.

He refused to give up. Some way or other, he would return Kagome to normal. How she suddenly wasn't able to see him couldn't be anything less of serious.

Inuyasha's hands curled up into a clawed fist.

Kaede would know what to do.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Inuyasha tucked Kagome carefully in his arms, shifting her weight systematically. Although he was starting to feel the consequences of so many sleepless nights, he found that he didn't mind carrying Kagome.

Somehow carrying her made him feel secure.

Inuyasha mentally kicked himself. Where were these thoughts coming from?

Pacedly, he walked away from the well, treading the air lightly as he traveled in the old way, except this time, Kagome wasn't asleep on his back – she was asleep in his arms.

The night breezes attacked him ruthlessly, clawing at his red haori hungrily.

Unaffected, Inuyasha took extra time to land somewhat gently, as he glared at the girl in his grip almost with annoyance, irritated that he had to go extra lengths to keep her asleep.

Kicking open the flimsy straw-bound door, Inuyasha stumbled into Kaede's hut, to find that Shippo, Miroku, and Sango were still there.

"Eh!" he grunted, still somewhat bad-tempered about how they had so easily dumped the job of finding Kagome on him. He refused to think about the fact that he was the only one out of them that could travel through the well.

The three turned their heads curiously at him, and Inuyasha smirked as he saw the now 'signature' red handprint staining the monk's face.

Inuyasha dumped Kagome almost roughly on the straw mattress laid out on the ground.

"What happened to her?" Sango inquired immediately, crouching down to check her friend's pulse worriedly.

"She's ignoring me." Inuyasha muttered lowly, before retiring to sleep.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Kagome blinked.

Once.

Twice.

It didn't disappear.

Who were these strangers hovering above her? Muttering in incoherent voices, overlapping multiple times over?

Had she been kidnapped?

Tears at once began to prick saltily at her eyes.

Immediately, the girl with the brown ponytail frowned, muttering while a man clothed in the robes of a monk bent down and rubbed her rear.

Kagome screamed and got up so fast that her vision was black for a moment.

"HELP! KIDNAPPING! RAPE!" Kagome screeched loudly, closing her eyes as if willing everything to go away.

Sango and Miroku each grabbed one side of Kagome's shoulders and steadied her, serious expressions dawning on their faces as they locked glances.

But Kagome wouldn't stop screaming. Tears streamed down her face nonstop, her eyes squinted in horror.

Finally, Sango snatched a dusty cloth lying on the nearby table and stuffed it into Kagome's wide-open mouth.

"I'm sorry, but we'll have to keep you tied up until we figure out what's happened to you," Miroku said solemnly, before carefully coiling a length of rope around the girl's shaking form.

Cooperating with Sango, he carefully set Kagome down in a sitting position against the wall.

Once the task was complete, the two stood back up.

Kagome's confused eyes flitted from one person to the other as the two spoke seriously.

"Where's Kaede?" Sango asked, frowning.

"She's out getting some herbs for a medicinal paste," Miroku replied in an equally monotone voice.

Sango turned and opened the door, stepping outside, followed closely by Miroku.

At that moment, Inuyasha came out from another door of the compact house, looking very irritated.

Rubbing his eyes furiously, the hanyou prepared himself to cuss very loudly at the person who had inconsiderately disturbed his much needed sleep.

Until he released the pressure on his tired golden orbs long enough to see the bound up girl lying pitifully in the corner of the hut, her eyes wide and shining from tears.

"They tied you up?" Inuyasha stated the obvious, confusion clear in his tone.

In one bound he was crouching in front of the frightened girl, and the first thing he did was retrieve the soggy cloth gagging her. Upon contact, the hanyou dropped the wet fabric immediately, looking at it in disgust as it emitted a squelch before falling limp on the floor.

Looking back at Kagome, he was shocked to find that the girl was gnawing uselessly on the rough rope binding her arms and legs, tearing at it with her teeth like a wild animal.

When Inuyasha placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, he screeched pitifully as she sunk her teeth into his arm, drawing blood.

The hanyou snatched back his hand, wiping the blood away carelessly with his other hand.

Inuyasha backed away momentarily, shocked that Kagome had actually bit him. When he tried to approach her again, the girl screamed.

"Get away from me! Do you know what the punishment is for kidnapping? When my mom finds out I'm gone, you'll be in jail for a while!"

That stopped Inuyasha in his tracks.

"Wait a minute," he calmed himself long enough to mutter. "You think I **_kidnapped_** you?"

This shocked Kagome quite a bit, and it was enough to end her tears when the boy in front of her suddenly started laughing, a scornful smirk visible on his face.

Inuyasha tried to approach Kagome again, and he was impressed with his progress when she didn't even attempt to bite him.

One look at her confused, wide eyes and he knew that she was his now.

Inuyasha opened his mouth to shout at the girl before him, shake her into reality, make her remember everything. But looking into her tearstained eyes and bewildered appearance, he realized something. And it came as an unexpected shock to him.

Kagome could see him again.

But this didn't make sense.

Inuyasha closed his eyes for a moment and strained to keep calm.

**_What_** was going on?

Kagome couldn't see him on the other side of the well, and now she could. But she didn't remember him?

And obviously not Miroku or Sango either, seeing as how they had bound her up and gagged her.

If he told Kagome about everything he'd planned to tell her, then all he'd get was probably a very confused look and perhaps another bite.

And definitely more tears. He'd had enough of _that_.

"This is a dream," he finally said wearily.

Kagome stared back at him disbelievingly.

"D'you expect me to be that gullible?" she said scornfully, narrowing her eyes.

Inuyasha sighed and stood up.

"Do people in real life have ears like mine?" Inuyasha pointed at his furry ears dully. "And silver hair?"

Kagome shook her head briefly.

"But it doesn't feel like a dream…" she muttered.

The hanyou before her shot her a compelling look.

Then something fell into place in her mind. Recognition flashed across her face.

Silver hair. Furry ears. Sharp claws. **_Golden eyes_**.

He was the boy she'd met in her previous dream…?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

An old woman with a stern gray bun and one steely eye walked leisurely in the busy market streets, dust rising all around her, flapping around her traditional miko robes. In one hand, she held a small cloth bag, weighed down with an assortment of dried leaves and stems. With the other she fixed the black eyepatch covering the other side of her face.

At the sound of a distant shouting from behind her, the old woman turned around.

Two youths were running up hastily towards her, shouting occasional "Kaede-sama!"'s.

When the pair finally reached the old woman, they were out of breath from relentless running.

"Kaede-sama," Miroku panted, not quite having caught his breath.

"Help," Sango continued.

"Back at the"

"Hut."

"Kagome."

"Inuyasha."

"Screaming."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

"What's your name?" Kagome finally asked, looking at Inuyasha from the corner of her eye.

The hanyou grunted his response. "Keh."

"Okay, **_Keh_**," Kagome said with annoyance, "my name's Kagome. So you can stop calling me wench."

"Why? Suits you better."

Kagome's face flamed red. "You better be grateful there are ropes tying me up, or you'd be **_dead_** right about now."

Inuyasha turned his gaze to meet the girl's.

He just smirked, much to the irritation of Kagome.

"Can you untie me now?" the girl whined.

"No," Inuyasha replied immediately. "You'll try to escape. If Sango and Miroku tied you up, they probably had a reason to."

"That was because I was screaming," Kagome said, annoyed. "But I promise I won't scream anymore," she added sweetly, blinking innocently at the hanyou.

Right then, the door opened, and Kaede marched into the room, followed by Sango and Miroku.

Kaede kept on going until she was in front of Kagome.

"Where's the jewel?" she inquired immediately.

Kagome shot Inuyasha a curious look.

"Searched already," the hanyou replied. "It's not there."

Kaede looked serious. "I see, then. That's why."

"Why what?" Inuyasha prodded on, Sango, Miroku, and Kagome watching intently.

"She made a wish."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

**So, how was it? Thank you sooo much for the reviews and encouragement so far! Please review! Suggestions and comments are greatly appreciated!**


	6. Chapter Six

**Sigh... FINALLY done with this chappy! Yay! This is kind of a turning point, I guess... Anyway, here ya go!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Remember Me Always

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Summary: Three little words he spoke to another broke her heart in ways he would never know. It's painful for her to remember him. She wants desperately to forget. And with the completed shikon no tama in her hands... she can. InuKag

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters from the series.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

**Last Chapter**

Right then, the door opened, and Kaede marched into the room, followed by Sango and Miroku.

Kaede kept on going until she was in front of Kagome.

"Where's the jewel?" she inquired immediately.

Kagome shot Inuyasha a curious look.

"Searched already," the hanyou replied. "It's not there."

Kaede looked serious. "I see, then. That's why."

"Why what?" Inuyasha prodded on, Sango, Miroku, and Kagome watching intently.

"She made a wish."

**End**

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

.:Chapter Six:.

Ripples of silvery white hair that made Kagome bite her lip in envy cascaded from his head in tangles and ended by the pants of his red haori. Nestled upon this throne of white were two ears most uncharacteristic in appearance of a human to have.

Yes, this was the boy who had been haunting her dreams as of recent.

Kagome watched his soundly sleeping form enviously. How she wished her nights could be so peaceful… her dreams so pleasant…

Ironically, he was the reason for those very same sleepless nights where, afraid to close her eyes for what she might see, Kagome lay in bed amid thoughtful contemplation and unvoiced fears.

Yet, even after so many nights of reflection – so much that pitiful bruised bags hung below Kagome's dark brown eyes – she had, much to her dismay and frustration, not found what was bothering her. Scaring her, even.

Kagome let out a soft chuckle, scorning herself. It was pathetic, really. She couldn't even bring herself to let down her guard and doze off into that sweet place called dreamland even when she was at the moment **_in_** a dream.

Still bound tightly in the primitive ropes that had cut into her skin hours before and were currently irritating the inflicted wounds with their scratchy fabric, Kagome made an effort to inch forward.

The smooth, finely cut katana that had caught her eye played the scant light escaping from the window mischievously, sending a ripple of shivers down the length of the polished blade.

To most viewers, the katana was a rusty treasure.

To Kagome, it was the only possible way she could think of to cut herself loose.

The girl boldly placed her trembling fingers on the cold, hard metal, for the first time realizing that the consequences of angering Inuyasha like this would be great.

Just as Kagome had partially unsheathed the katana and brought its frosty, rust-painted blade close enough to the ropes tightly wound around her wrists, the sleeping hanyou stirred.

A shock of gold stared up at the girl amid her act, as Inuyasha opened his eyes and instinctively sat up.

Caught by surprise, Kagome jerked her trembling hands unintentionally.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Inuyasha finally burst out, eyeing Kagome more in annoyance than anger.

"What does it look like?" Kagome retorted on impulse, narrowing her eyes. "Cutting myself free."

"Have you ever even used a **_wooden _**sword before?" Inuyasha reminded the girl in a scolding tone. He glanced down at Kagome's shaking, white fingers. "Oh for -"

The girl matched Inuyasha's gaze, trailing it to her wrists, where from her earlier act of surprise, she had unknowingly cut herself. Blood poured freely in crimson rivers from the wound, flowing easily down her paling arms.

Kagome felt nauseous.

Before she could protest, Inuyasha had ripped off the left sleeve of her uniform blouse, tying it skillfully around her bleeding wrist.

Then, with a swift, expert pull, Inuyasha had unsheathed his katana from its skimpy leather scabbard, and released Kagome from her prison of ropes.

Seconds later, Kagome was, freed and bandaged, sitting quietly with her back pressed against the wall.

Inuyasha watched her intently, not seeming to notice how she avoided locking glances with him.

Thousands of voices were unleashed in Kagome's mind, wildly reminding her how awkward her situation was.

"What's your name?" she finally asked, head still turned.

Inuyasha jolted minutely, from his intense observing. Caught off guard, he provided an answer unarmed with insults for once. "Inuyasha," he more grunted than said.

Kagome nodded positively. She was finally making **_some_** progress…

"Well, then Inuyasha," she began awkwardly. Pausing a moment, Kagome couldn't help but launch into the only mode in which she seemed able to communicate to this 'dream' boy comfortably – insults. "You know that in most situations the guy is supposed to sacrifice a part of his **_own_** clothing to bandage the girl's wound," she offered harshly.

Inuyasha smirked. "This haori was made from fire-resistant materials," he informed her, as if that justified all. "Besides, how much could that transparent slut's blouse of yours be worth?"

All in a matter of seconds, it happened. Kagome's pale, blood drained face gained color in a moment's time, deepening into a dark red shade.

Faster than Inuyasha had ever traveled in his famous jumps, Kagome had marched over to him and slapped him soundly across the face.

Eyes narrowed, Inuyasha rubbed his reddening cheeks furiously. "Y-you wench!" he accused. "I didn't deserve that!"

Kagome, who had gone back to sulk against the wall, approached the whining hanyou again, smiling sweetly.

"Of course not, **_honey_**," she said sultrily, placing a hand that was no longer trembling but strangely calm on the hanyou's hand that was clasped over his injured face. A pang of déjà vu almost caused her to hesitate.

Standing up to her full height in an attempt to measure up to Inuyasha's height, Kagome pressed her body against his so that she could feel his heartbeat quickening.

"You know I love you, Inuyasha," she whispered, her breath sending tingles up the hanyou's neck. Unaware of the ironic truth in her words, Kagome continued in her sickeningly sweet tone, "I have always loved you. Ever since our first meeting. Your face has never left my mind, your words have been engraved in my heart."

Inuyasha's body suddenly became rigid, and Kagome felt it.

An expression of utmost confusion on her face, Kagome disentangled herself from Inuyasha.

And found to her horror that his cold, amber eyes were piercing into her own dark brown ones, full of telling emotions.

This wasn't what she had planned.

She had planned a mockery of Inuyasha's previous insult, which had named her a slut. She had planned pushing him back in the middle of her honey-coated words, laughing. She had planned for him to get angry in that cute way of his and…

Kagome paused in thought, unaware that in reality her eyes were still locked with Inuyasha's.

What was this that she was feeling?

This exhilarating sensation of something buried deep and precious within her heart rising back up to embrace her?

It couldn't be – was she possibly feeling something **_positive_** toward this dreamland enemy?

Kagome closed her eyes for clarity of mind.

When she opened them, she was alone.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Kaede sprinkled a small pouch of previously crushed herbs into a large container of what looked like black paste.

"What could Kagome have wished for?" Miroku wondered aloud, Sango looking troubled at his side.

"I believe I may have it figured out," Kaede replied after a moment's hesitation. "However…"

Miroku and Sango stepped in front of the old miko, eyeing her intently.

"Inuyasha may not know," she finally said, sighing.

"Why?" Sango blurted out.

The old woman's thoughts wandered to a picturesque memory of a younger version of herself following a tall young woman clothed in traditional miko robes, her hair clasped elegantly behind her neck. Her sister – the only family she had.

"It is for their own good," she finally said wearily.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

_Dewy drops of sunlight splattered across the blue skies, painting a depiction of utmost beauty. Honeyed colors blended creamily amidst the floating white clouds, accentuated by the sun's radiance._

_A white-haired boy walked alongside a raven-haired girl, neither saying a word. Behind them was a boy dressed in the robes of a monk, and a girl who wore her long brown hair in a ponytail, a large boomerang slung across her shoulders. _

_The retreating sunlight warmed their unsuspecting backs, offering comfort to their heavy minds. _

_The raven-haired girl instinctively clasped a hand to her throat, searching for something nonexistent. _

_An unexpected tear heated up in her eye, threatening at any moment to fall. Glancing sideways at her companions to assure herself that no one had seen her single, glistening teardrop, she silently scolded herself for her weakness._

_But she couldn't help it._

_A product of six years of work had been stolen by a youkai the day before. What was worse was that Kagome had handedly given it to the monster. _

_The youkai, disguised as a pitiful old woman, has asked to see the mystical purple jewel shining at the girl's neck. The girl hadn't had the heart to refuse the starved elder, and had complied. _

_And just like that, the jewel had been taken. The raven-haired girl had been alone at the time, and much as she hated to admit it, she had been powerless. _

_As new tears threatened to rise into her eyes, the girl purposely coughed. _

_The white-haired boy next to her eyed her blandly._

_"I'm going ahead for some water," the girl offered in a fake-hoarse tone. _

_Without waiting for any reply, she started off at a light jog, which soon evolved into a self-blaming sprint. _

_When she had entered an empty, light-filled meadow, she stopped and collapsed. Guilty sobbing emitted shamelessly from her throat, salty tears were shed in self-pity._

_The girl suddenly felt weak, powerless against anything and everything. _

_Years of tedious, blood-soaked work had been wasted by her moment of naivety and gullibility. _

_She knew now that the youkai who had run off with the jewel had most probably been a subordinate of Naraku's. _

_And if it was, it could have been being used for unimaginable evil intentions at the very moment. She would be killed for her meddling. Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kaede – they would all be killed. _

_All for a moment's naivety. _

_The raven-haired girl was suddenly aware of a pale hand reaching out toward her, offering to help her up._

_She accepted it, and before she lifted her eyes, she knew who it was. _

_Her dark brown eyes looked up to meet the icily identical hued orbs of a woman not much older than herself. _

_The woman's appearance portrayed many close similarities to that of the raven-haired girl._

_"I suppose I know what it is that is upsetting you," the woman said with a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. _

_She raised one pale, slender hand up to her neck, where, upon a delicate chain, was strung the purple amethystine jewel the raven-haired girl had been sobbing over. _

_"You were the… youkai?" the girl stammered uncertainly. She noted what she had not seen before: the glass diamond of clear liquid embedded at the base of the woman's throat – a potion? Then after a moment the girl asked the question of all time. "Why?"_

_The softened edges of the woman's brown eyes seemed to sharpen just as the last hint of the possible smile disappeared from her face._

_"I have a bargain to make with you," the woman said coldly. "You may choose." The woman eyed the girl before her curiously. "The stone or Inuyasha." _

_A tear fell from the raven-haired girl's previously calm face. She pictured the white-haired boy in her mind, causing more tears to fall. _

_Inuyasha could still be happy without her._

_He had Kikyo._

_And if the jewel were left in Kikyo's hands, there was no telling what she might do with it…_

_She knew the choice she had to make._

_The girl opened her mouth to speak the words that she hoped were for the right cause. _

_And found that her throat was utterly dry._

_She was suddenly aware of Inuyasha's, Miroku's, and Sango's presence some fifteen feet away from her, listening intently._

_Kikyo smiled sadly._

_"Inuyasha," she whispered, and the hanyou seemed to hear her even then._

_Inuyasha approached the miko silently._

_"It is your choice then," she said softly. Then, after a moment's of hesitation, she continued, "Just one question. That is all I ask."_

_The hanyou nodded numbly._

_"If Kagome and I were to both drop into the ocean at the same time, with you as the only witness," Kikyo began, her eyes sad, "whom would you save?"_

_Inuyasha spoke immediately, not needing any time for thought._

_That was what hurt the most._

_"You."_

_Kagome closed her eyes tightly._

_Upon opening them again, she saw the scene before her blur. _

_Suddenly, she was dropping infinitely off of the side of a cliff._

_Roaring waves screamed below her._

_Cold and numb, Kagome shut her eyes once more, shutting out the pain. _

_A sudden heaviness accumulated in her raven hair._

_It was water._

_Ocean water. _

_…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………._

Kagome opened her eyes desperately, finding that she was panting.

She couldn't think, couldn't breathe.

Voices screamed in her head, mingling with the shouts and yells starting around her.

_

* * *

_

**So, did you like it? PLEASE review! I love getting people's thoughts on my writing!**

**Thanks!**


	7. Chapter Seven

**Woot woot! Long chapter! For me at least... Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter! Only about three more chapters for this story! But don't think that all the problems are going to be solved in the next chapter or something! I'm gonna try to make it so that I keep people interested in the plot until the very end.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Remember Me Always 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Summary: Three little words he spoke to another broke her heart in ways he would never know. It's painful for her to remember him. She wants desperately to forget. And with the completed shikon no tama in her hands... she can. InuKag

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters from the series.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

**Last Chapter**

_Kagome closed her eyes tightly._

_Upon opening them again, she saw the scene before her blur._

_Suddenly, she was dropping infinitely off of the side of a cliff._

_Roaring waves screamed below her._

_Cold and numb, Kagome shut her eyes once more, shutting out the pain. _

_A sudden heaviness accumulated in her raven hair._

_It was water._

_Ocean water. _

………

Kagome opened her eyes desperately, finding that she was panting.

She couldn't think, couldn't breathe.

Voices screamed in her head, mingling with the shouts and yells starting around her.

**End**

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

.:Chapter Seven:.

A light spring breeze frolicked carelessly in the creamy blue skies, whisking through delicate audiences of ancient trees, causing their lush pink blossoms to float leisurely to the emerald green grass carpeted meadows.

A tall, silent woman maneuvered her way skillfully around the exuberantly waving cherry blossom trees to the middle of the sunlit meadow. Once there, she kneeled down elegantly and unbound the weighted sackcloth bag from her shoulder, setting it on the soft grass gently.

Almost reluctantly, she retrieved a polished wooden instrument from the smooth leather case she had tied to her waist.

With her silky ebony locks draped across her shoulders delicately gleaming, and her pale skin barely affected by the generous warmth of the sun, the woman closed her sad brown eyes and placed her lips on the mouthpiece of the small instrument.

Inhaling a breathful of fresh spring air, the woman blew into the minute wooden instrument with all of her strength.

A choked, pathetic gasp emitted from the base of the polished wood, where music was supposed to tumble from.

Unwilling to give up in a subtly stubborn way, the woman shut her eyes more tightly and tactfully struck at uplifted ivory keys with her long, pale fingers, while taking in breath after breath, only to be wasted on wispy, pitiful, noteless gasps.

Several hesitant tears trailed from her tautly closed eyes, dropping soundlessly on the end of the polished wooden flute.

The cold tears framed and washed away the scant dust from the end of the instrument, where it had been broken. Three words were engraved clumsily on the splintered brim

_Inuyasha and Kikyo_.

The silently weeping miko wiped away the tears endlessly flowing onto the flute, her fingers lingering on the crudely broken end.

A bitter laugh escaped her lips.

Who would have thought that when Inuyasha had broken the miniature flute fifty some years ago, giving Kikyo half and himself the other, as a sign of love and devotion that he was actually foreshadowing the two of them drifting apart?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The scene of herself falling endlessly into the merciless ocean, the wind whipping her hair painfully onto her face still burning in her tearful eyes, the salty taste of ocean water still steaming on her tongue, and the ruthless tumble of waves still roaring in her ears, all Kagome could think to do was to scream.

She didn't see Inuyasha watching her with a horrified expression across his face; her eyes were too busy reliving her terrible dream. She didn't hear the worried calls of Miroku and Sango, and had no way to respond to them anyway; her ears were aching too much with the bellowing of the tumbling ocean. And she could not feel Inuyasha, after coming out of shock, shaking her shoulders desperately, searching for the girl he knew in her terrified brown eyes, because her skin was too numb with the deathly cold air surrounding the ocean, rushing past her as she dropped.

Kaede suddenly slammed open the door to the hut and walked in on the frightful scene. Kagome had her glazed-over eyes open to their limit, her mouth gawked wide to emit her blood-chilling scream.

Miroku and Sango helplessly shouted comforting words to the screeching girl, hoping to wake her from her obvious nightmare.

Inuyasha, with a frightfully lost expression tainting his normally indifferent face, desperately shook the girl, his darkened amber eyes pleading with the gleaming, tearstained ones before him to look at him.

Kaede took a deep breath and marched over to the bawling girl, almost afraid that her endlessly sobbing eyes would soon be crying blood instead of tears due to the tension placed on them.

She pushed Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango harshly away from Kagome, whom had been previously moved to a sitting position.

Strangely enough, when, moments before, Inuyasha's presence and touch had meant nothing to her, once it was gone, an overwhelming sense of insecurity seemed to come over Kagome.

Her incoherent screaming stopped long enough to helplessly mumble, stuttering uncontrollably.

"What's she saying?" Inuyasha demanded urgently, turning to Kaede.

The old woman shot him a look that told him to shut up, and continued to stand two feet away from the traumatized girl, saying and doing nothing.

Eventually, Kagome's mumblings gave way to a silence that seemed quieter than usual, which was a very strange experience.

Her head gradually drooped to rest on her shoulder, which slackened in tension and relied more on the wall behind her.

"Inuyasha… save me too…"

The hanyou had to strain his sensitive ears, but he caught the last words Kagome had whispered as she drifted back into a dreamless sleep, a tear trailing sadly down her face.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

A lazy yawn emitted from the girl's stirring form. She sat up slowly, a hand held at her forehead.

"Ow… head hurts…" she muttered sleepily, as she rubbed her eyes open.

The pair of brown orbs widened significantly as she took in the scene before her.

"What happened?" she wondered aloud, standing up to observe the circle of smashed furniture around her: ranging for delicate porcelain vases to sturdy wooden tables.

What alarmed her even more was the motionless form of Inuyasha lying on one of the only other splinter-less sections of the room.

Although she knew the hanyou was probably sleeping, Kagome couldn't help but feel somewhat scared. For some reason, it felt like she had lost someone dear to her heart before, and didn't want to lose Inuyasha again.

Kagome stopped in her steps.

That didn't make sense.

Shaking the thought from her head, she hesitantly placed a cold finger on Inuyasha's wrist, searching for a pulse.

Touching his skin sent a tingle of pleasure down her spine. The comforting warmth of his beating pulse warmed her shivering cold fingers.

She sighed in relief.

He was alive.

Kagome instinctively shrunk back as Inuyasha suddenly sat up.

An expression of deep relief passed over his sleepy face, confusing Kagome.

"You're okay," he muttered, standing up.

"Yeah," Kagome replied, frowning. "Should I not be?"

Inuyasha shot her a weary look. Her innocence was driving him crazy. How could she know him so closely in her dreams, but be completely oblivious to the past years they had spent looking for Shikon shards together when she was awake?

He didn't understand.

Kagome did.

Her eyes squinted as she remembered the crashing ocean waves that had terrified her so much, and Inuyasha's definite confession that he loved Kikyo.

Her heart clenched together as she felt the nauseas after affects of remembering the dreadful dream.

She was desperately confused. A kind of calm seemed to wash over her as she admitted to herself that somehow, by repeating dreams or actual encounters, she had known Inuyasha in the past, but that only confused her more.

Kagome closed her eyes and searched her mind.

Who was Kikyo?

Who was the boy dressed in the robes of a monk but flirted shamelessly with the brown-haired girl next to him?

Inuyasha flinched as Kagome opened her brown eyes abruptly.

"They were Miroku and Sango," she muttered suddenly, meeting Inuyasha's confused gaze.

"The lecherous monk and brown-haired girl in my dream," she offered.

Inuyasha hesitated. "Was I -"

"Yes," Kagome interrupted firmly, her eyebrows knitted in concentration.

Then after a moment, "The only people I don't know are Naraku or whatever and that Kikyo girl."

Inuyasha's sleepy golden eyes focused immediately.

Could she be recovering from her sudden amnesia?

"Naraku is a self-centered little fucker with a bunch of weird offspring," Inuyasha offered, receiving a dirty look from Kagome.

"Thanks, that really helped," she sighed.

"No prob."

"What about Kikyo?"

When she received no reply, Kagome glanced at the hanyou. His face had grown taut.

"Oh please," Kagome interrupted, looking away. "She's your lover right? That's why in the dream…" her voice trailed off.

Something salty was pricking at her eyelashes. Kagome mentally slapped herself. Why was she getting jealous over Inuyasha, whom she had just recently meant? Who had kidnapped her?

Kagome glared at the hanyou next to her. But the heavy-spiritedness around him wiped away her blaming looks. She suddenly felt like reaching out to the troubled hanyou.

Just as Kagome offered him a hand, he shook his head and looked up.

"This isn't a dream," Inuyasha muttered simply.

Kagome's eyes widened for a moment.

"Remember, I told you everything right now is a dream?" Inuyasha sighed. "Well, it's not. I lied."

Kagome smiled faintly.

"Well," she began, taking a deep breath, "I don't think I ever believed that this was a dream anyway. You're a horrible liar," she scrunched up her nose and grinned at the hanyou before her. Then, taking another breath, she continued, "I guess the dream thing was kind of a way to keep me from going crazy. You know, a lot of confusing things have been happening in my life lately," she confided. Encouraged by Inuyasha's attention, she went on, "First of all, I've been having reoccurring dreams, and ones about you at that, and my mother and grandpa are thinking of selling our house. They want to move."

Inuyasha said nothing. He knew how much the ancient house meant to Kagome. She had once called it her "home forever."

A stray tear caught Kagome unawares. She gave into a bitter laugh. "And I've been crying a lot lately," she said, frowning.

Inuyasha looked at Kagome's pitiful form, shaking, laughing, crying, and frowning at the same time. He wanted to reach out and embrace her and comfort her, but was afraid that he would be doing the final deed that would break her.

Kagome suddenly turned her weary form to Inuyasha, a look of pleading on her fragile face.

"J-just leave me alone for a while," she whispered, as her brown orbs, still shiny from tears that had not yet dried from the past, washed anew with more sobbing.

The hanyou gave her a concerned look before nodding his head and leaving the small hut.

Seeing the last of his red haori disappear behind the closed door, Kagome felt it safe to start bawling her eyes out. She only hoped that she wouldn't be rendered blind by so much continuous crying. But she couldn't help it, even if she hated how weak she felt.

Her heart was torn between being tired from searching, but curious to know.

Just what had happened between her and Inuyasha in the past that made her literally lose any memory of him?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The tall, wispy green grass tickled her skin as she walked through the meadow. Kagome opened her eyes.

Her aching heart had led her to a place that seemed to fill her with memories.

Empty memories where she could not remember anything at all.

Her eyebrows were already tired from knitting together in confusion so much recently.

Her voice was so unrecognizably weary from sobbing that she barely realized her own voice when she spoke.

"I walked through here…" she felt her throat rasp out.

A surge of excitement entered her mind as she realized that she was remembering something.

"Past the cherry blossom tree," she said softly, her fingertips brushing the bark, warm from the sun.

She stopped in her tracks when she felt two deep grooves underneath her fingers. Upon observing more closely, Kagome found that there were two deep puncture marks in the tree trunk.

She found with growing surprise that she could almost smell Inuyasha's scent in the deep marks.

Kagome realized that when she tipped her head to the side slightly and allowed the sunlight to shine onto the bark, that dark brown stains of what she was sure had been blood inside the tree's puncture marks.

"Inuyasha had been pinned onto the tree by arrows," Kagome deducted. "But-"

A voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts.

Kagome turned her gaze immediately to the clear, glistening lake near the tree, and saw, under the shade of a large tree ablaze with pink blossoms, two people, one of which she could tell was Inuyasha.

Kagome walked a little closer, trying to figure out where she had seen the woman standing next to Inuyasha before.

Kagome held a hand to her forehead.

Definite déjà vu.

But she knew who the woman conversing with Inuyasha was, now. She had identified her as Kikyo, the woman who had won over Inuyasha's heart.

A pang of jealously pierced Kagome's heart, and this time she expected it.

She walked until she was within earshot of the conversation, concealing herself expertly in the tall grass, not bothering to wonder how she knew the meadow so well.

"Did you kill her?" Kikyo asked softly, locking gazes with Inuyasha.

"No," the hanyou said after a moment of hesitation.

The woman smiled sadly. "I did not think you would." She lifted her face to look at Inuyasha. "You love her too much."

Sighing, Kikyo reached into the sackcloth bag bound over her shoulder and retrieved a beautiful polished wooden flute.

But it was broken obviously at the end.

Inuyasha's eyes widened immediately, and an unreadable expression dawned his face as he reached out to touch the miniature instrument.

"I cannot play it without the other half," Kikyo explained blandly, that sad look still in her cold brown eyes.

Inuyasha reached into his haori and pulled out the missing part of the flute, which he had kept in an inner pocket for many years. He handed it to the woman.

A brief expression of surprise and maybe gratitude crossed her face, but passed immediately. She accepted the offer and pieced the two pieces of the instrument together.

Kagome watched in curiosity.

Kikyo placed her lips on the mouthpiece of the instrument, and positioned her fingers on the keys. But the moment her grip loosened on the flute, the two parts broke apart again.

Inuyasha retrieved the other half from the grass and held it steady, allowing Kikyo to play the instrument.

The tune she played was a sad one. It made even Kagome, who saw no significance at all in the exchange of the flute halves, feel upset.

The tune eventually ended on a long, fading note.

Kikyo lifted her head and met Inuyasha's pained gaze. She brushed his hand away from where it held the bottom half of the flute in place, allowing the piece to drop once more into the grass.

Kikyo followed Inuyasha's gaze to the polished wooden flute half, lost in the tall grass.

They both looked up simultaneously, locking eyes.

"It does not clip together like it used to," Kikyo whispered sadly, her brown eyes glistening. "It cannot stay attached by itself. Just like us."

Inuyasha looked away, but with one hand, Kikyo turned the hanyou's head back toward her.

"We have broken apart like this small instrument," the woman said sadly. "But with a little help, we can also be brought back together."

Inuyasha didn't look like he fully believed it, but paid intent attention nonetheless.

"Just one question," Kikyo said quietly.

Inuyasha nodded.

Meanwhile, Kagome was undergoing a lot of déjà vu.

What Kikyo said next was almost enough to make Kagome scream in dread.

* * *

**So, did you like it? Thank you all so much for all the encouragement and suggestions so far! Please read and review!**


	8. Chapter Eight

**OMGOSH this is the longest chapter I have ever written. This chapter took really long to write, but hopefully it was worth it! There is finally some type of real Inuyasha and Kagome heart-to-heart talk here, LOL. This chappie was also exceptionally hard to write, because there is more angst than I am used to writing. **

**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! It was because of you guys that I decided to update! Thanks for all the support. **

**There are about two chapters more to go for this story.**

**Anyway, enjoy the story!**

* * *

Remember Me Always

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Summary: Three little words he spoke to another broke her heart in ways he would never know. It's painful for her to remember him. She wants desperately to forget. And with the completed shikon no tama in her hands... she can. InuKag

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters from the series.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

**Last Chapter**

Kikyo followed Inuyasha's gaze to the bottom half of the polished wooden flute, lost in the tall grass.

They both looked up simultaneously, locking eyes.

"It does not clip together like it used to," Kikyo whispered sadly, her brown eyes glistening. "It cannot stay attached by itself anymore. Just like us."

Inuyasha looked away, but with one hand, Kikyo turned the hanyou's head back toward her.

"We have broken apart like this small instrument," the woman said sadly. "But with a little help, we can also be brought back together."

Inuyasha didn't look like he fully believed it, but paid intent attention nonetheless.

"Just one question," Kikyo said quietly.

Inuyasha nodded.

Meanwhile, Kagome was undergoing a lot of déjà vu.

What Kikyo said next was almost enough to make Kagome scream in dread.

**End**

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

.:Chapter Eight:.

The feeling of warmth and comfort the radiating sunlight had previously offered had at some point disappeared, and it left behind an aftershock of coldness on her arms and legs, signs of goosebumps already prickling at her skin.

A tense feeling of taut anxiety had frozen Kagome into her present crouched position, concealed in the tall wavering grass. A highly wary observer would have at the most only noticed the two pinpricks of gleaming brown amidst the luscious green stalks of greenery that marked her unblinking eyes.

Her body was tense and rigid, but inside, she was shivering uncontrollably, as the fast beating of her heart vibrated through her whole figure.

In the warmly lit meadow before her, Inuyasha's customarily golden orbs reflected the dusty spring sunlight, condensing with apprehension to make the intense deep shade of amber that they were at present. His eyelevel was parallel to that of Kikyo's, which displayed a coldness that matched with the tragically luminous nature of her dark brown eyes, gleaming with tears.

The gently scorching sun seemed to have no affect on the dead miko's pale, untainted complexion as she placed a slender hand on Inuyasha's idle one.

Kagome, still as a statue on the outside, but desperately trembling on the inside, knew what Kikyo would say next.

It was just like in the terrible dream she had the night before.

And she dreaded it all.

Kikyo broke the intensifying silence with a mild, toneless whisper.

"Just one question, Inuyasha," she said softly, a rare hint of a plea in her emotionless voice. She blinked unexpectedly as warm tears began to sting at her dry eyes.

Encouraged by Inuyasha's stillness, she continued.

"I-if that girl you have spent the last few years with," Kikyo stumbled inelegantly on her words as she refused to speak the name of her much-despised rival. She gathered her courage all over again in a shaky breath. "If she and I were to fall into the ocean at the same time and you could only save one of us," she searched Inuyasha's expressionless golden orbs.

Kagome closed her eyes tightly.

"Whom would you save?"

Screeching voices shrieked inside Kagome's head for her to run right at that moment.

Escape.

Leave before she allowed Inuyasha to break her heart once again.

Her mind was a jumbled mess; she did not recall when she had ever let Inuyasha break her heart in the past. But her heart, painfully pieced together from its last shattering, told her different.

Kagome inhaled a shaky breath and willed herself to move. To run away.

Only to find that she was frozen in place.

Deep curiosity and some of the other pathetic, more scattered and faint voices in her mind urged her to stay.

There was even a small whisper in her head that told her Inuyasha might yet choose her over Kikyo.

And she chose to believe that small, frail murmur because it spoke in the same tone of her heart.

_'This is pathetic.'_

She mentally scolded herself for feeding the hope she knew so bitterly would cause her much disappointment later.

Inuyasha's mumbled reply woke her unpleasantly from her inner struggles.

"You asked me this before," he muttered quietly.

Kikyo regarded the hanyou before her a little sadly, a bitterness forever tugging at her expression, keeping her from giving a true smile.

It did not take long before her elegantly composed countenance began to shatter.

"J-just this one question," she managed to gasp out, as painfully restrained tears began to brim at her eyes. "Please."

Inuyasha, seeing Kikyo's shattered expression, didn't hesitate to answer.

Before Kikyo had closed her mouth, Inuyasha was already talking.

Kagome should have taken that as a warning. But her steadfast curiosity complied her to stay.

"You," Inuyasha replied impatiently, shaking the miko before him by the shoulders gently. "I'll always be there to save you, Kikyo. You were my first friend and …love," the hanyou admitted quietly. "You're the one I'll never forget."

Kagome let out a shaky laugh of irony when she saw Inuyasha's ears redden briefly in that embarrassed expression she had previously thought was reserved for her alone.

Her shoulders sagged slightly as she saw Kikyo finally allowing Inuyasha's inviting embrace to claim her.

Kagome let out a deep breath, not realizing that she had been holding it in the first place.

She suddenly opened her mouth and laughed a quiet, bitter laugh, muffled almost immediately by the wind.

She held a cold hand up to her face curiously.

Her face was implacably dry.

Where were the tears that had seemed to flow so easily over the smallest things as of recent?

Kagome's self-blaming laugh grew steadily louder as she thought of the irony of it all.

Just that morning she had been pathetically sobbing over a mention of Inuyasha and Kikyo's relationship.

And now, when, just seconds before, Inuyasha had proclaimed that he would dive to Kikyo's rescue and leave Kagome to die without so much as a second thought, she found that she couldn't force a tear out.

Not even out of self-pitying remorse.

She constantly searched her face for any sign of arriving tears as she subconsciously continued her dry, cracked laugh, watching the couple before her embracing under the shade of a cherry blossom tree.

They really were the perfect couple, Kagome had to admit that. She could never imagine herself falling so perfectly into Inuyasha's arms, with her chin lifted at just the right height on the hanyou's steady shoulder.

Before Kagome even knew what she was doing, she had gotten to her feet and made her way with surprising rapidity to approach the couple reminiscing in the meadow.

Inuyasha, facing the direction Kagome was coming from, widened his eyes in shock.

It couldn't be.

Not again.

He watched, transfixed, as Kagome, without so much as a tearstain on her face, decidedly stopped ten feet away from him, and opened her mouth.

Only to find that she didn't know what to say.

For some reason, she felt mortified by this emptiness.

Without a second glance Inuyasha's way, Kagome turned on her heel and ran.

Voices screamed jeeringly inside her head.

Why did this feel so familiar to her?

Like it had happened before?

But it couldn't be.

Couldn't be…

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Inuyasha had watched, unmoving, as Kagome's small form stopped some ten feet before him, her face dominated by a bitter expression of deep disappointment and regret, with not a single tear making its way from her shining brown eyes.

The way she looked at him had made him feel worse than any spoken words could.

Kikyo had disentangled herself from his arms, noticing how his body had suddenly tensed.

Inuyasha looked at her briefly, his eyes glazed over with worry for Kagome, before bounding off into the tall grass.

He couldn't let history repeat itself.

The last time Kagome had run off like this, she had returned as she was now, with barely any memory of him, hanging onto rare wisps of dreams.

Perhaps this time when she was found again, she would be completely unwary of him.

Perhaps she would not even be able to see him, even on this side of the well.

Inuyasha clenched his fists tightly, unconsciously drawing blood.

He couldn't let Kagome get hurt again.

Ever.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Kagome clasped her head wildly with her arms as she suddenly lost balance and fell face forward into the cold, damp ground.

Soil met with her mouth and sent her into a madly coughing fit.

When she had calmed down significantly enough to focus on her surroundings, Kagome began to feel tears starting to sting at her eyes, which had previously been dry as death.

Through her blurred vision, she found the old, primitive well mouth sitting not too far away from her, where she could almost see her fingers imprinted in the clay.

There was a certain kind of calling that she felt from this strangely misplaced well.

She more saw than felt herself stand up, slowly making her way over to the plainly constructed ornament of clay.

She realized with mild surprise that she remembered this place, as she ran her fingers softly over the clay brim.

The last time Inuyasha had chosen Kikyo over her, she had come running to this very same clearing.

Kagome stopped mid-movement.

The taunting evening breeze whistled gently in the background, as Kagome closed her eyes.

She inhaled a deep breath.

She felt now that she could almost smell Inuyasha's scent and her own intertwined in this small meadow.

And if she concentrated hard enough, she could almost hear their voices, loudly conflicting with each other.

She briefly saw herself, some feet away from the well, walking steadily toward it, with Inuyasha in the background, scowling and yelling.

"Just one week," Kagome whispered, her eyes still tightly closed. "Please, Inuyasha. I have tests I need to make up!"

"A week is too long!" the hanyou grumbled in a whiny tone.

Kagome shrugged with a frown.

"What can I say, Inuyasha," she muttered, glowering. "I have a life, you know."

The hanyou snorted.

"I'd like to see **_that_** when it happens," he said, smirking.

Kagome's face reddened briefly, but she suppressed her anger with some difficulty and watched him expectantly.

Inuyasha seemed to struggle a bit with himself before giving into a scowl. "Fine!" he crossed his arms to show how much he disapproved Kagome's actions. "But bring me back some more of that ramen thing you made last time!" he called after the girl as she lifted herself over the brim of the well.

"Don't worry, I will!" Kagome promised, as she smiled once more at the scowling hanyou before disappearing over the brim.

But just as she dropped into the darkness of the well, awaiting the moment it would transfer her back home, she felt a familiar hand wrap firmly and rather roughly around her wrist.  

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Inuyasha watched in semi shock as he pried apart the tall grass to find Kagome talking aloud to no one in particular, with her eyes closed so tightly that it must've hurt.

He mentally kicked himself. It was all his fault that Kagome was acting this way. He briefly remembered a time that seemed so far away now, where the girl had laughed so much every day that he had felt like drowning in the soft sound.

Inuyasha was roughly jolted out of his trance when he saw with a terror that made his whole body tighten, Kagome lifting herself over the brim of the well and dropping in.

Something clawed unexpectedly at his heart then.

He knew no harm would come to the girl if she dropped into the well, but he didn't want to see her leave again.

Although unwilling to admit it, he was desperately afraid of losing her.

In a heartbeat, he had bound over to the well's lip and grabbed onto Kagome's wrist, so tightly he was afraid he might just squeeze the life out of her.

In one swift movement, he had hauled the shivering girl over the brim and onto the grassy meadow, setting her on the ground softly.

Kagome fell limply onto a green bed of moss, her head lolling slightly.

Inuyasha sat down quietly next to the unconscious girl, his expressionless face full of expertly hidden relief.

The softly whistling breeze fluttered over Kagome's glossy raven-black hair, shining under the steadily visible moonlight.

The hanyou beside her reached out and brushed away the few wavering ebony strands hovering on her face.

Seeing the girl appearing so lifeless suddenly woke a starting fear from within Inuyasha.

He gently shook her by her shoulders, waiting desperately for her eyes to open. When they didn't, he started to shake her more roughly, his face taut in anxiety.

To his relief, Kagome's eyelashes fluttered briefly before rising slowly to reveal her confused, sleepy brown orbs.

"I-inuyasha," she mumbled, as she sat up slowly, a hand held to her forehead. "Whe-"

"Sh…" the hanyou muttered, deeply calmed that the girl was safe and sound. "You need rest." 

Kagome stopped mid-movement as she saw the concerned expression on Inuyasha's customarily indifferent face. Reluctantly, she remembered the events before her brief faint.

"Why aren't you with Kikyo?" Kagome muttered sharply. She knew she sounded dreadfully jealous and child-like, but she couldn't help it. All these bad feelings inside of her seemed to be like a large bubble pressing at her throat, straining her every breath until she spoke of them.

Inuyasha looked slightly uncomfortable and didn't answer.

"Never mind," Kagome sighed, waving him off again.

An awkward silence dawned on the two, both unable to find something worth saying.

"Why'd you come after me, anyway?" Kagome finally managed in a quiet whisper.

Inuyasha turned his gaze to the girl before him, looking at her seriously.

"What do you think?" he muttered. "I was worried about you."

Kagome turned away, unwilling to allow herself a look at the hanyou's face, afraid that with that one glance, she would fall for his lies again.

"Worried? About me?" Kagome snorted bitterly. "You can stop lying now, Inuyasha. I heard the whole conversation you had with Kikyo. You wouldn't even care if I died. So how could you be worried about me?" Kagome's voice rose.

"Of course I would care if you died," Inuyasha frowned. "Stupid girl…" He mentally kicked himself, but he just couldn't resist adding that last comment out of habit from the many insulting conversations he'd had with the girl in the past. 

Kagome narrowed her eyes dangerously, her sorrow overwhelmed by bitterness and anger.

"Well, I suppose I **_am_** just a stupid little girl anyway," she spat pitifully. "How could I not be, after believing all the lies about 'caring' you fed me all these years?"

"Just what exactly is your version of 'caring?'" she muttered, dreading the watery tingle she felt tugging at the corners of her eyes, unable to conceal the hurt she felt.

Inuyasha shook his head mildly, his face purged of all emotion.

"You don't understand."

"Of course not!" Kagome shrieked. "How could I understand why you would rather save an already dead miko from dying again rather than come for me?"

She didn't mean to be so harsh. Kagome shook herself inwardly. Since when did she become such a selfish person? It was no wonder Inuyasha didn't like her.

The hanyou looked somewhat stunned.

Kagome threw up her arms in ultimate surrender.

"Sorry," she finally mumbled, tears beginning to tumble from her dark brown orbs. "Sorry, it's really not my place to say who you should like and not like."

Inuyasha watched the breaking girl in concern.

Kagome suddenly collapsed from her standing position, ending up in a crumple on the grass, her arms clasped tightly around her knees.

"J-just let me be a-alone for a while," the girl gasped out pitifully, giving in to sobbing in self-pity.

Inuyasha didn't move. He watched silently as Kagome turned away from him and buried her face into her arms, shaking uncontrollably.

"I would never let you **_or_** Kikyo fall into the ocean," the hanyou finally mumbled.

This barely had any affect on the crying girl.

Inuyasha released a growl of frustration.

"Look, you can't just ask me to forget about Kikyo, alright?" he muttered, immediately regretting using such a harsh tone of voice.

"She accepted me as a hanyou when no one else did," Inuyasha said on a softer note. "She was my first friend and my first love." If Kagome had looked up, she would've seen a look of great sorrow on the hanyou's face.

"I will never forget everything she has done for me," he continued after a moment of silence. Inuyasha turned around so he wasn't facing the crouching girl anymore.

He gazed up at the brightly cascading moonlight, lighting up the sky almost tragically.

Inuyasha took a deep breath and looked down at the grass.

"If you and Kikyo were to fall into the ocean at the same time," he began. "I would save Kikyo because I owe her too much not to, but then I would jump in after you, because you're the one I want to be with forever, Kagome."

Inuyasha closed his eyes briefly as he felt a cold hand suddenly touch his shoulder lightly.

Turning around, he saw Kagome, tears streaming from her glistening brown eyes, watching him quietly.

"Do you mean that?" she finally asked, her voice a bare whisper of uncertainty.

"Yeah," Inuyasha sighed wearily. "But I guess that doesn't mean anything to you now that you don't believe anything I say."

"What?"

Inuyasha placed his hands as gently as he could on Kagome's shoulders, and looked into her eyes carefully.

"I love you, Kagome," he said sincerely.

The girl froze in place and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she suddenly looked unbelievably small and frail.

"This isn't a dream is it?" she whispered, then laughed bitterly at herself. "I mean, what am I saying. But is this true? But then what about-"

Inuyasha cut off her stumbled words when he claimed her lips with his own.

Kagome's eyes widened briefly before fluttering closed, enjoying the sensation of Inuyasha so close to her.

It wasn't like the kisses she saw in movies, the ones that seemed to last forever.

The first kiss she shared with Inuyasha was short and sweet.

Chaste.

And Kagome liked it that way. It filled the emptiness inside of her with a heart-warming feeling.

When she pulled away gently to look at Inuyasha carefully, all she wanted was to never wake up, if this indeed was a dream.

Because the expression on his face was once she had always wanted to see, the one she had waited for so many years to see.

A look of sincerity and of love.

If Kagome could wish for anything in the world at that moment, she'd want nothing more than to be by Inuyasha's side forever.

* * *

**A/N: THIS IS _NOT_ THE END OF THE STORY! There are still about two more chapters left, so check back later. Besides, Kikyo won't just let Inuyasha and Kagome get away with this! I'm trying to keep the characters as true to the anime and manga as possible, so I hope there isn't any really noticeable OOC's! Oh yeah, the characters in this fic still need to find out about what happened to the shikon no tama, so this story is definitely not done yet. Maybe I'll make it a sad ending... or a happy one? Suggestions, please!**

**Please review!**


	9. Chapter Nine

**Edited! w00t!**

**Thank you all for the reviews! Your support and advice has really helped.**

**And thanks to BlackDiamon for pointing out the errors I had in this chapter. They are now fixed! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Remember Me Always 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Summary: Three little words he spoke to another broke her heart in ways he would never know. It's painful for her to remember him. She wants desperately to forget. And with the completed shikon no tama in her hands... she can. InuKag

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters from the series.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

**Last Chapter **

Inuyasha placed his hands as gently as he could on Kagome's shoulders, and looked into her eyes carefully.

"I love you, Kagome," he said sincerely.

The girl froze in place and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she suddenly looked unbelievably small and frail.

"This isn't a dream is it?" she whispered, then laughed bitterly at herself. "I mean, what am I saying. But how can this be true? Because, then what about-"

Inuyasha cut off her stumbled words when he claimed her lips with his own.

Kagome's eyes widened briefly before fluttering closed, enjoying the sensation of Inuyasha so close to her.

It wasn't like the kisses she saw in movies, the ones that seemed to last forever.

The first kiss she shared with Inuyasha was short and sweet.

Chaste.

And Kagome liked it that way. It filled the emptiness inside of her with a heart-warming feeling.

When she pulled away gently to look at Inuyasha carefully, all she wanted was to never wake up, if this indeed was a dream.

Because the expression on his face was one she had always wanted to see, the one she had waited for so many years to see.

A look of sincerity and of love.

If Kagome could wish for anything in the world at that moment, she'd want nothing more than to be by Inuyasha's side forever.

**End**

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

.:Chapter Nine:.

_A soft splash of faded gold blended noticeably with the dark, starlit skies surrounding, joining in the twilight dance to blanket the earth under a silent, sleepy glare. A sparse, wispy breeze lingered in the frosty air, trickling through dim, moonlit meadows and skimming quiet, motionless lakes, bringing out slight ripples to reflect their crystalline clarity. _

_Delicate pink cherry blossom petals twirled leisurely amidst the dancing autumn winds, floating carelessly to the lushly covered ground, carpeted in fragrant green grasses, still wet with daylight dew. _

_A stray petal tumbled inelegantly amongst its siblings, seemingly in a struggle to keep up with the rest in the race to reach the verdant green grass. It toppled softly at the base of a flat, moonlit rock. _

_A set of pale fingers retrieved the soft petal from its rest in the grass. They reached up to place the smooth, unbroken blossom on the flat rock overlooking the crystalline lake. _

_A gentle, whistling wind hurried past, slightly rustling the long crimson skirt of the young woman's miko robes. _

_A slight sound of disturbed autumn leaves from a nearby tree had barely any affect on her as she continued to smoothen out the small white creases in the petal she held in her hands. _

_A rough thump resounded behind her as a figure toppled out of an overhanging branch. _

_"Kikyo." _

_The miko paused a moment before standing up to face her inquirer. _

_"Inuyasha," she returned in an anticipating whisper. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. _

_The white-haired hanyou before her found interest in the object she carried in her hands. _

_"What's that?" Inuyasha questioned curiously, leaping to Kikyo's side in one bound. He sniffed the slightly creased petal partially hidden by Kikyo's fingers. _

_Kikyo pushed Inuyasha's face away playfully. _

_"It is for a combination of herbs I am mixing," she explained serenely, her shining eyes the only feature on her emotionless face betraying her appreciation of Inuyasha's presence. "The son of the Arakiwa family, Ichirawo, is ill. I am hoping that my blend of medicines will cure him," she added as an afterthought, looking out past the trees. _

_"You're too nice to those backstabbing villagers, Kikyo," Inuyasha muttered quietly, his gaze averting to the tree behind the miko. _

_The hanyou jerked slightly in surprise as he felt Kikyo's hand rub into his shoulder gently. _

_Her deep brown eyes were fully of understanding as Inuyasha looked into them. _

_"Although your hanyou form has pre-empted both youkai and humans to accept you as one of them," the miko smiled slightly sadly, "you cannot go through life hating everyone." She squeezed his shoulder softly, offering him a quiet smile. _

_"If someone is in need, as a person who understands how to use medicinal herbs, it is my duty to help," Kikyo returned softly, looking back at the petal in her hands. _

_Inuyasha eyed Kikyo warily. _

_"I came to tell you something," he suddenly blurted out, remembered in time. _

_Kikyo turned to him, watching him curiously. _

_Inuyasha grinned. "Remember what you said about me using the shikon no tama to become a full human?" _

_A smile started to creep onto the miko's customarily serene face. _

_"I'm gonna do it," Inuyasha announced. "For you," he added somewhat sheepishly, mentally kicking himself for his unaccustomed mushiness. _

_Before Inuyasha could speak another word, Kikyo allowed herself to fall into the hanyou, catching him off guard into a deep embrace. _

_There were hints of tears in her eyes as she raised her face to look into Inuyasha's golden orbs. _

_Tears of happiness. _

_"Does that mean that all the plans we made earlier-" she began, only to be cut off by the hanyou beside her. _

_Inuyasha nodded. _

_"So we will marry after the shikon no tama has been purified, and move together to the countryside?" Kikyo whispered. _

_Inuyasha nodded in agreement, holding Kikyo tighter. _

_"I will bring the shikon no tama tomorrow, then," the miko nodded her tearstained face, true happiness like never before shining through her pale features. _

_Inuyasha grinned and pulled her into a needy kiss. _

_It was the happiest moment of her life right then. _

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

A brief flashback scourged her mind.

_'It was the happiest moment of her life right then._'

Slashing the miniature sword across her victim one more time, Kikyo watched in satisfaction as a warm, crimson substance oozed out from the wounds.

A sudden, ghostly sting seemed to cut viciously across her back and shoulder, ripping through her skin. She reached a hand to touch the invisible wound.

Warm droplets of liquid began to wash slowly across her face as she looked up into the dark skies.

_"Why did you betray me, Inuyasha?" she screamed at the retreating hanyou. She could scarcely believe that, with the smell of her lover's claws still fresh in her wounds, she was dying. She struggled to stand up, crawling towards a tree for support. _

_Fire raged through her dark brown orbs as she helplessly watched Inuyasha leave a village burning to shreds, children and adults screaming in agony as crimson embers consumed them and their loved ones. She watched in utter hatred as the hanyou turned his back from the gruesome scene and disappeared in the distance. _

_She barely felt it when she lifted a numb hand to retrieve a frosty arrow, stringing it expertly across her bow. _

_Her customarily organized mind was screaming and shrieking, and a most uncharacteristic lust for Inuyasha's blood tainted her eyes and lips, causing her to tighten her hold on the stiff bow in her hands. _

_Slightly limping, she trudged forward in the direction she had seen the hanyou disappear. _

_Upon entering the tangled forest, Kikyo saw Inuyasha from amongst the trees. He looked around somewhat wildly for a moment, before resting his golden orbs on Kikyo's shaking form, frozen in place. _

_When her hand went limp, releasing her arrow of deepest hatred, Kikyo watched in satisfaction as Inuyasha stared at her in shock and betrayal, wanting to feed him some of his own medicine. _

_Inuyasha's head seemed to jerk forward momentarily as the spelled arrow shot through his body and crashed him into the tree behind him. _

_Just before the arrow's blood-encrusted tip locked into the tree, and he closed his eyes for the last time, he eyed Kikyo with a gaze of deepest disappointment, regretted heartbreak, and utter hatred. _

_Just when the hanyou's eyelids dropped to fulfill the spell, Kikyo felt her body go limp as she collapsed onto the ground, stained crimson from her own blood. _

_She had failed. _

_Failed to purify the shikon no tama. _

_Failed to love Inuyasha. _

_Failed to live a happy life. _

_Of all the most important things she had ever wished for, not one had been granted, and she supposed they never would. She closed her eyes painfully, a single, regretful tear ushering its way down her pale face. _

Kikyo glanced briefly at the hem and ends of her robes, smeared with mud and grass, and slit another infliction across her prey.

The scapegoat on which she was releasing her bitterness indeed was very much like prey to her. She herself was the predator, feeding on the image of fresh bloodstains, all of which she had caused.

Who knew that Inuyasha could cause even her earthen heart to break?

Kikyo certainly had never predicted it.

She had thought that, built on hate, she was utterly invincible.

But now she knew that she was utterly vulnerable.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The air had cooled, rushed here and there hastily by armies of minute but ruthless breezes. The pale moon contrasted flawlessly with the coal-black sky, sending soft shafts of light down from its perch.

Glowing hints of gold, orange, and ruby peered from behind camouflaged clouds, drifting slowly but surely out from behind the darkened skies and into the open.

Her eyelids fluttered open slowly, revealing a pair of luminous brown orbs, shining softly from satisfaction and contentedness. Gazing up distractedly at the beginnings of a sunrise painting the shady skies, she lifted a hand subconsciously to touch the slight smile tracing her lips, lingering from the night before.

Never had she felt so secure and full in her life, as when, the night before, she fell asleep in Inuyasha's arms.

Kagome leaned her head back against Inuyasha's steady chest, careful to not disturb his heavy sleep.

She loved the feeling of his warmth pressed against her body, so that their breathing and heartbeats were delightfully aligned.

Kagome let out a deep breath of fulfillment.

Everything that had caused her to experience so many sleepless nights, leaving her pillows wet with salty tears – all of those worries and pains were gone now that Inuyasha was with her.

She felt the utmost safety around him.

The previous night, she had given into his protection. Drained of emotion and tears, she had allowed herself to fall asleep in his arms, with the cold, bitter wind beating mercilessly around them.

Kagome tentatively touched Inuyasha's strong arms, wrapped so tightly around her body, protecting her from the cold and the ruthless breezes.

The hanyou stirred at the contact.

Sitting slowly, he brought Kagome up with him.

Kagome playfully tapped his nose, which scrunched up from instinct.

"Good morning!" she greeted cheerfully.

"Morning," Inuyasha responded in a less enthusiastic mutter.

Kagome stood up in a single bounce, full of early-dawn energy. Smiling happily, she grasped Inuyasha's hand with both of hers and attempted to pull him up.

After a while of trying and failing, Kagome pouted mischievously at the hanyou, whose golden orbs were still half-lidded.

"You liar!" she accused teasingly. "You told me before that youkai didn't need to sleep at all! And here you are, not even up when I am!"

Inuyasha squinted and eyed the wide-eyed girl before him. He did remember telling her that once, but it was a long time ago. His spirits rose slightly at the possibility that Kagome was regaining her memory of the past.

"Yeah, I did say youkai don't need sleep," Inuyasha mumbled amid yawns. "But I'm a hanyou."

With that, he had collapsed on the ground, lost in heavy slumber once more, producing snores that shook the ground.

Kagome shook her head, unable to decided whether she should frown or laugh.

She bent down slowly and was about to shake the hanyou back into full consciousness, when she decided against it, her hand faltering millimeters away from the hanyou's body.

_'When he wakes up, he'll have breakfast waiting for him,'_ Kagome decided happily, standing up and walking away quietly, whistling a soft tune.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Kagome had walked a little ways from Inuyasha's resting spot, relaxing in the exhilarating feeling of sunlight on her skin.

A soft sound of vigorous slashing woke her from her morning cheerfulness, drawing her attention to an area of tall grass near her.

Kagome mentally noted that this was the same place Inuyasha and Kikyo had reminisced the day before.

The girl brushed the tall grass aside briefly to find Kikyo in the near distance, crumpled over something red.

Kagome took shelter behind a nearby tree and approached the dead miko's area.

She almost did not recognize Kikyo when she saw her.

Was this really the same elegant, impenetrable, emotionless miko she had encountered in the past?

Was this really her, weeping softly in the clearing, slashing a broken wooden flute endlessly with a small blade, as her tears of blood flowed in to wash the splintered wounds?

Kagome felt sympathy wash over her. She knew what Kikyo was going through.

Suddenly, the miko cast her bleeding eyes in Kagome's direction.

Kagome couldn't help but shudder slightly. There was something about Kikyo's glance that made her blood run cold. That glance – was of utter hatred.

"Kagome," Kikyo muttered, hastily wiping away her crimson tears as she stood up.

The dead miko presented an icy smile as she made her way towards Kagome.

"What could you possibly have that Inuyasha would leave me for you?" she demanded, her eyes narrowed as she questioned.

Kagome's eyes locked glances with Kikyo's for a moment before Kagome jerked suddenly, crying out abruptly in pain. She glanced at her arm, and saw a thin cut on her sleeve penetrate her skin.

Dark, crimson blood ushered out.

A feeling of panic rose within Kagome as she tried to run away, only to find that she was frozen in place.

"I wonder if Inuyasha will still like you after your face is covered in scars," Kikyo said softly, her eyes glinting spitefully.

Kagome closed her eyes tightly and urged whatever power she had within herself to show itself. She remembered how being near her caused Kikyo's stolen souls to flee.

Kagome opened her eyes in confusion.

"Why do you still have your soul?" she blurted out before thinking.

Kikyo laughed cruelly. "You think I really needed to have you killed so I could steal your soul and use it like I told Inuyasha?" Kagome shuddered. "Foolish girl," the dead miko spat out pityingly. "I merely wanted you to get the punishment you deserved for trying to take Inuyasha away from me." Kikyo smiled cruelly. "I could just imagine your torn look when Inuyasha ripped your life away from you like I suspected he did to me years ago."

Kikyo's face paled for a moment. "It is one of the worst feelings, being betrayed by someone you love so deeply."

She turned to Kagome. "But although my plan with Inuyasha did not come into effect, it does not affect me negatively at all. For you see, I have long since already conjured a spell to bind the stolen souls within me in a way that you cannot interfere with."

Kagome desperately tugged inwardly at her feet, urging herself to move.

"Save your energy," Kikyo spat out coldly. "You will not be leaving alive."

With that, she cast her blood-encrusted blade at Kagome's throat.

Kagome sucked in her breath as the tip penetrated her skin.

_'Inuyasha!'_ her mind screamed out, but it was too late.

She felt warm blood generously gushing down her neck.

She was dying.

Kikyo had killed her.

* * *

**Cliffy? I guess this would be considered a cliffy. Haha... I'm so evil! Please review and tell me what you think about this chapter! **

**One more chappie to go!**


	10. Chapter Ten

**Okay... BIG EDIT!**

**The last chapter! Thank you all for the support throughout this story!**

**Enjoy!**

Remember Me Always

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Summary: Three little words he spoke to another broke her heart in ways he would never know. It's painful for her to remember him. She wants desperately to forget. And with the completed shikon no tama in her hands... she can. InuKag

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters from the series.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

**Last Chapter **

"Why do you still have your soul?" she blurted out before thinking.

Kikyo laughed cruelly. "You think I really needed to have you killed so I could steal your soul and use it like I told Inuyasha?" Kagome shuddered. "Foolish girl," the dead miko spat out pityingly. "I merely wanted you to get the punishment you deserved for trying to take Inuyasha away from me." Kikyo smiled cruelly. "I could just imagine your torn look when Inuyasha ripped your life away from you like I suspected he did to me years ago."

Kikyo's face paled for a moment. "It is one of the worst feelings, being betrayed by someone you love so deeply."

She turned to Kagome. "However although my plan with Inuyasha did not come into effect, it does not affect me negatively at all. For you see, I have long since already conjured a spell to bind the stolen souls within me in a way that you cannot interfere with."

Kagome desperately tugged inwardly at her feet, urging herself to move.

"Save your energy," Kikyo spat out coldly. "You will not be leaving alive."

With that, she cast her blood-encrusted blade at Kagome's throat.

Kagome sucked in her breath as the tip penetrated her skin.

'_Inuyasha!'_ her mind screamed out, but it was too late.

She felt warm blood generously gushing down her neck.

She was dying.

Kikyo had killed her.

**End**

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

.:Chapter Ten:.

Kagome gasped inwardly as she felt the all too real dagger-tip puncture the base of her neck, causing her to emit a choked, silent noise of eminent struggle.

She couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't scream, not even for her life.

She realized with an overwhelming fear that there was no way Inuyasha, the one person she always looked to for protection and assurance, could save her this time.

Warm, crystalline tears overflowed from her frightened brown eyes in one cascading motion, and dribbled helplessly down her face to splatter softly onto the ground by her feet, where the tears were immediately swallowed up by the soil, unheard and unheeded.

Kikyo watched silently as the girl pathetically attempted to restrain her tears.

A wave of satisfaction washed over Kikyo's earthen heart.

At last it was Kagome's tears that fed into the hungry, waiting ground, and not her own.

Kikyo cherished the moment; watching her rival suffer the ultimate, slow death, while she watched from the side.

She silently wondered if Inuyasha might come sauntering along any time soon. She definitely did not deny expecting it.

Kikyo grunted, feeling some of the old hurt creep back inside of her. She could not believe that Inuyasha had deserted her for that cheap replacement. The dead miko shot Kagome a hateful glare.

She stepped forward and shoved the still dagger deeper into the girl's neck.

Kagome's eyes widened and appeared at the brim of bursting. Kikyo frowned in disgust, knowing full well what a shrieking racket would be terrorizing the meadow at that moment, if she had not sealed the bleeding girl with a spell that prevented all movement and speech.

Kagome regarded the dead miko before her in incredulity, finding it hard to believe that someone who had been as deeply loved by Inuyasha as Kikyo had been could ever be so cruel.

"This is just what you deserve, you little whore," Kikyo hissed uncharacteristically, venom poisoning her already hateful words.

Kagome suddenly felt a feeling of ultimate nausea wallow up in her throat, washing over her like an unstoppable illness.

She could not think of a time when she had felt any weaker.

Even Kikyo, whose shield of tranquility had been formed over an expanse of many years; even Kikyo shuddered in surprise as a generous amount of blood suddenly spewed from Kagome's mouth.

The girl's bright eyes suddenly went out.

Kikyo walked forward and checked the girl's pulse from the side of her bleeding neck.

Kagome was **_dead._**

Kikyo looked somewhat disbelievingly at her own hands, blood-encrusted. She knew that the blood stains seeping into her fingernails, like guilt, would never been truly washed away.

She had killed the detestable girl at last.

_**Inuyasha was all her own now.**_

This was the moment she had been waiting for. The moment she had been anticipating for more than _fifty_ years. She could finally be together with Inuyasha again.

She had her heart back. She could finally **love** Inuyasha once more.

But a muffled, choked voice inside her head came out of seemingly years of hiding and shrieked in disappointment.

Kikyo was not a woman who killed harmless, unarmed people.

A few stray tears wandered from the dead miko's pain-stricken eyes as she realized something that hit her like a sharp spear being thrust into her heart.

The Kikyo that Inuyasha was familiar with would never be so cruel as to kill an innocent girl like Kagome.

The woman whom Inuyasha had known and **_loved_** was a kind miko who helped others and saved people from death.

And here, Kikyo had just sent someone into death.

Kikyo slammed a clenched fist into the ground, not even wincing as numerous pebbles, like little miniature daggers, pierced into her skin.

_**She was not the same Kikyo whom Inuyasha had loved. **_

Kikyo eyed her bloody knuckles.

_**She was a fake.**_

Before she even knew what was happening, she had stood up and found her way to stand in front of the blindly staring girl frozen still as a statue in the middle of the meadow.

Kikyo frowned and pulled the bloody dagger out of Kagome's neck in one heave.

Suddenly, she heard a crunch of leaves behind her.

She whirled around expectantly.

"What… have you done?"

Tears now flowed freely from Kikyo's desiccated eyes.

"Inuyasha," she murmured, falling to the ground in a heap of grief.

The hanyou disregarded her and, in one bound, leapt in front of Kagome.

"K-kagome?" Inuyasha stumbled on his words in a most uncharacteristic way as he attempted to lock gazes with the girl's empty eyes.

_**But she always seemed to be looking at something beyond him.**_

Inuyasha frantically grasped Kagome's hands and wrapped them inside his own.

"You're cold," he muttered in a low voice.

A sudden cry caused Inuyasha to turn around.

Kikyo laughed bitterly. "After all that I did for you, Inuyasha, you still chose to love her."

"What did you do to her?" Inuyasha demanded, his eyes flashing red for a moment. He caught hold of tetsusaiga, tied at his waist. His eyes immediately relaxed back into their golden color.

The hanyou unsheathed his sword and held it threateningly close to Kikyo's neck.

The dead miko eyed Inuyasha warily, before sighing. "Do what you must. However, I must say, I cannot believe that it has come to this between us." Kikyo closed her eyes quietly, but one tear slipped through to flow down her face.

"Why did you kill her?" Inuyasha mumbled.

Kikyo opened her eyes slowly.

"This was between us," Inuyasha growled softly. "She was innocent!"

The woman eyed Inuyasha scornfully. "Innocent? How could she be innocent when she took you away from me?"

"Just undo your spell," the hanyou commanded, a growl at his lips.

Kikyo carefully scrutinized Inuyasha.

"Is she that important to you?" the dead miko whispered softly. "More important to you than me? More…" Kikyo locked glances with Inuyasha, her eyes tainted with a miserable sadness. "More **_precious_**?"

Never had déjà vu hit Inuyasha so hard. He vaguely remembered that moonlit night many years ago, when Kikyo had asked him something very similar before sinking into the ground.

He had been unable to answer back then, but he had had a long time to think since then, and a decision had finally formed inside of him.

Inuyasha nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry, Kikyo," he added after a moment of hesitation, seeing the woman's frozen look.

Kikyo stood up and eyed him distantly.

"That is your decision, Inuyasha, and I suppose nothing I say can ever change it." Her voice was cold, and her tone was foreign to the hanyou before her.

Kikyo turned to face the direction where ten feet away, Kagome was standing still as a statue.

Kikyo held up a hand and thrust it forward into the air.

A torrent of wind seemed to form from her palm, and when it hit Kagome, the girl crumpled onto the ground in a heap, finally released from the spell that had bound her.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha leapt to the fallen girl's side.

"How could you do this?" Inuyasha turned to Kikyo accusingly while settling Kagome gently in his arms.

"The Kikyo I knew **_never_** would have done anything like this!"

Kikyo clutched a hand at the base of her neck in a sudden scorch of pain and inner struggle.

"I… tried to be perfect for you, Inuyasha," she whispered softly, tears pricking at her eyes. Kikyo looked at the ground. "I wanted to be the perfect woman for you, because I believed that you deserved no less."

Kikyo lifted her head to reveal her tearstained face as she stared at Inuyasha accusingly.

"But while I tried to protect our love, you did not!" Kikyo pointed at Kagome. "You let that girl come between us!"

"You still didn't need to **_kill_** her!" Inuyasha shouted back. "You could have found another way. You could've told me!"

"I did try," Kikyo replied quietly. "I tried to tell you, Inuyasha, of how I detested it when I saw you and her," Kikyo nodded towards Kagome, "together. But you never gave me a chance! You never took my hints."

"So you killed her because of that?" Inuyasha said incredulously. He stood up, letting Kagome rest on the ground gently. He moved a hand to the hilt of his sword.

"She is NOT DEAD!" Kikyo screamed back at the hanyou, unable to contain her grief any longer.

Inuyasha stopped in his tracks.

He watched in confusion as Kikyo crumpled onto the ground, sobbing pitifully. He had never seen this side of the miko.

She had always been calm and always seemed to have things under control.

Inuyasha crouched down next to Kikyo, searching for an answer in her glossy, tearstained eyes.

He was beginning to see the tortured, miserable woman hidden behind the perfect mask.

"If Kagome isn't dead, then what's happened to her?" Inuyasha asked.

"I conjured this dagger," Kikyo gasped between sobs, pointing at the bloody blade sitting on the ground beside her. "Not long ago, I discovered a spell that could enable one to switch worlds with someone else."

Inuyasha listened intently, impatient to know how to restore Kagome, but unwilling to push the tortured woman before him any further. He could see easily how much she was fighting, but he knew that she was dangerously on edge.

"I cast that spell on this dagger, so that when I stabbed Kagome with it," Kikyo began, "she would switch worlds with me. I should have been in the world of the dead these past few years, and the spell recognized this. Thus, Kagome has been cast into the world of the dead, where I should have been, and I have been brought to the world of the living, where Kagome had previously been. The spell can only be used once by a person, so I cannot reverse the spell."

"World of the living?" Inuyasha muttered. "Then-"

"I am truly alive right now. I am able to breathe again," Kikyo whispered, a few more tears brimming over her eyes. "I have a real, beating heart at this moment. I suppose that is why I'm hurting so much. I had a hopeless hope that we could be together again."

Inuyasha looked away. "If Kagome's in the world of the dead, then isn't she dead?"

"Choose, Inuyasha." An expression of pain crossed Kikyo's customarily emotionless face. "Me or Kagome. This is the last time. I will not ask you again." Kikyo let her last bit of hope show in her shaky voice.

Inuyasha locked gazes with the miko before him.

"I'm sorry, Kikyo," he muttered. "But I-"

Inuyasha's speech was interrupted when Kikyo placed two cold fingers on his lips.

"You do not need to explain, Inuyasha," she whispered. "I just want you to know…" she looked into the hanyou's eyes. "I will love you always and forever. Even if I cannot stay by your side anymore, I still want you to…" Kikyo grunted in pain.

"Kikyo!" Inuyasha shouted in shock. He stared down at where Kikyo had wrapped her hands around one of his. Together, their intertwined fingers held a dagger that was plunged deep into Kikyo's stomach.

"I-I still w-want you to know that I will a-always love y-you," Kikyo gasped as she collapsed into Inuyasha's arms, blood gushing from her wound.

"Why did you do this?" Inuyasha muttered in a low voice.

Kikyo smiled sadly, her face already paler than usual. "The only way to reverse the spell I cast on that dagger is for me to die. Once the conjurer of the spell dies, the spell is rendered ineffective. Kagome will be back with you after I breathe my last breath."

Inuyasha closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, they were slightly gleaming.

Kikyo reached a hand up to brush away the small, almost unnoticeable tear starting at Inuyasha's eyes.

"You will be able to see the girl you love again," Kikyo whispered. "That is reason to be happy."

Inuyasha hastily held Kikyo up into a sitting position. "We have to get you to Kaede," he muttered, beginning to stand up. "She might be able to save you."

"She will not be able to now," Kikyo said softly.

Inuyasha looked down at the woman in horror as he saw that her hand was around the hilt of the dagger, which she had plunged even further into her stomach.

The hanyou bent down hurriedly.

"I want you to be happy, Inuyasha," Kikyo smiled slightly, then wincing in obvious pain. "I was dead once anyway; I belong to the world of the dead already. What better way to die again than in the arms of my one and only true love?"

Inuyasha hastily held Kikyo more securely in his arms.

"We really should go back," he urged her, slightly frantic now. "Kaede really might be able to save you!"

Kikyo wrapped her hand more firmly around the dagger's hilt.

"No, Inuyasha."

The hanyou growled. "Don't be stubborn. I'm being serious."

"As am I," Kikyo whispered sadly. "Make my leaving moment a happy one… please."

Inuyasha growled, then joined the miko to sit down.

"I'm so sorry, Kikyo," he whispered, holding her tighter. "I'm too weak. I couldn't protect you or Kagome."

Kikyo closed her eyes, but she was unable to restrain the tears that came washing through her eyelashes.

"Thank you for not killing Kagome," Inuyasha finally said quietly.

Kikyo's eyes remained closed, but her lips formed a slight smile.

"You could've just killed her instead of the whole spell thing," Inuyasha muttered. "But you spared her life."

Kikyo opened her eyes. "I suppose this means I am not yet cruel enough to kill people, then?" she said softly. "Perhaps there is still some of the old, kind Kikyo you loved left in me?"

Inuyasha smiled slightly – he didn't smile often, and Kikyo cherished it.

"Yeah," he muttered.

"That is all I want," Kikyo whispered. She smiled and closed her eyes again. A tear trailed from the corner of her eye.

After a moment of hesitation, Inuyasha spoke again, shifting Kikyo slightly in his arms.

"Kikyo, do you think things could've been a lot different between us today if Naraku had never tricked us?" Inuyasha asked quietly.

When Kikyo did not answer, Inuyasha shook her slightly.

Suddenly, Inuyasha heard someone move a few feet behind him.

"I-Inuyasha?"

The said hanyou turned around immediately, to lock gazes with Kagome, who was sitting up and rubbing her eyes in confusion. There was no sign on her neck showing that she had been knifed to death just a few minutes ago.

"Kagome," Inuyasha returned.

Kagome stood up and walked towards the crouching hanyou.

"Wha…?" she whispered softly, gesturing at where Kikyo had been lying in Inuyasha's arms.

Inuyasha looked down and saw that, where Kikyo had previously been, there was only a pile of scattered earth.

Inuyasha stood up slowly, trying not to disturb Kikyo's remains.

"I guess Kikyo is gone, then," Inuyasha muttered, his voice slightly cracked.

"What?" Kagome inquired, standing closer to Inuyasha to listen. "What did you say?"

Inuyasha turned to Kagome. "You don't remember what happened?" he asked her curiously.

"Don't remember what?" Kagome replied, frowning. "Did I fall asleep here or something? I meant to find you breakfast."

"No," Inuyasha said quietly.

"Is there something on your mind?" Kagome inquired, watching the hanyou carefully.

"Kikyo is gone," Inuyasha said heavily. "She died… for me."

Kagome glanced back at the pile of soil on the ground. "That can't have been… Kikyo?" she whispered seriously.

Inuyasha nodded.

Kagome was about to ask the hanyou what happened, but, upon seeing his worn expression, she decided not to push any further.

"Should we… erm… bury her or something?" Kagome suggested.

The hanyou shook his head. "That pile of earth isn't her real body. This pile of earth made up a body that only allowed Kikyo to hate, and she experienced a lot of pain through it. I don't think she'd want this pile of earth to be kept as a souvenir of her pain. It'll probably only let her remember all her sorrow. No, let the wind carry it away."

Kagome nodded slowly.

"What… happened, exactly?" she asked softly after a moment's hesitation, placing a hand comfortingly on Inuyasha's arm.

"It's a long story," the hanyou muttered. "I'll tell you later."

"Okay," Kagome agreed immediately, not wanting to linger too long on this subject that seemed to cause Inuyasha a lot of pain.

"Let's go back to the village," Inuyasha suggested.

"Yeah," Kagome nodded. "Oh… and, could I…"

Kagome stopped walking.

Inuyasha turned around to face her.

"What?"

"Can you let me go back to see my family?" Kagome pleaded. "They're probably really worried about me. I haven't seen them in over a month!"

Inuyasha gave a nod of consent. "Fine. But only because you're gonna come back soon." Inuyasha drew his face closer to Kagome's so that their noses were touching. "You **_are_** gonna come back soon, right?" he scowled slightly at her.

Kagome pushed her face a little bit closer to Inuyasha's.

"Of course! How could I not? I'm missing you already!" Kagome laughed.

Inuyasha suddenly used one hand to push Kagome's chin closer towards his own, so that their lips joined.

At first, Kagome let Inuyasha lead her into the kiss, but when she was ready, she deepened it, hungry for more.

When at last they broke apart to breathe, Kagome allowed herself to fall into Inuyasha's strong arms.

She just felt so safe when she was with him.

Kagome smiled with her eyes closed. She loved everything about him; his smell, his touch… everything.

Being with him was exhilaration.

"You'd better bring me some ramen from your side of the well!" Inuyasha suddenly commanded, waking Kagome from her fantasies of spending the rest of her life with the hanyou.

Kagome pulled back from the hanyou and frowned playfully at him.

"You know just how to ruin a romantic moment, don't you, Inuyasha!" Kagome pouted.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "We were having a romantic moment?" He scowled. "Well, who would've guessed that I'd ever have a romantic moment with a wench like you?"

"SIT!" Kagome screeched, looking annoyed.

::WHAM::

"OW!" Inuyasha complained, waiting for the spell to wear off so that he could stand up again. "I thought you forgot how to do that when you forgot everything else!"

Kagome laughed. "Well, I guess I didn't wish hard enough, 'cause I'm regaining my memory pretty fast!"

Inuyasha stood up. "What?" he inquired seriously.

"What what?" Kagome asked, still grinning.

The hanyou looked at her strangely. "You said something about wishing…?"

"Oh."

"Does this have something to do with the disappearance of the shikon no tama?" Inuyasha asked urgently.

Kagome took a deep breath. "Well, you see…" she began, nervous under Inuyasha's intense stare. "Ijustrememberedthatimadeawishtoforgetallaboutyou," she said hastily.

"What?"

Kagome took another deep breath. "I just remembered that I made a wish to forget all about you," she said softly. A brief look of hurt crossed Inuyasha's face.

"This was a while ago!" Kagome assured him.

"Oh," Inuyasha replied.

"It was because I heard you tell Kikyo you loved her," Kagome said sadly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted so rashly."

Inuyasha put a hand to Kagome's lips, but Kagome brushed it away forcefully.

"You need to understand," she continued, tears starting at her eyes. "I could've lost you forever!" Kagome started to tremble slightly. "I-it's all my fault! I never would've forgiven myself if making that wish hadn't led me to you again." Kagome looked up into Inuyasha's golden orbs. "But I could've lost you forever, Inuyasha!" she gave into sobbing pitifully.

Suddenly, she felt Inuyasha's strong arms encircle her.

"You think I would've allowed you to do that?" the hanyou's low voice reprimanded the girl in his embrace.

"I love you, Inuyasha," Kagome told him softly, raising her face from his chest. "That's never gonna change. If anything, after I forgot about my love for you before, I fell in love with you all over again. And if you don't believe me, then-"

Inuyasha cut off her speech when he placed his lips firmly on hers.

When he drew back, he found himself face to face with a breathless Kagome.

Kagome looked into the hanyou's eyes.

"We're a long way from truly understanding each other, but we're on the right track," Inuyasha muttered quietly. He took Kagome's hand in his own.

"A promise."

Inuyasha looked at Kagome curiously. "What?" he asked.

"We have to make a promise. It forms the beginnings of a relationship. You first," Kagome said seriously.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow.

"Okay… Then I promise I'll try my best from now on to understand your strange girl ways," Inuyasha said.

Kagome laughed.

"Right. And I promise… to love you and **_remember you always._** You'll be in my heart forever," Kagome said solemnly.

"Yours sounds better than mine," Inuyasha grumbled. "How the hell do you think of these cheesy lines?"

Kagome laughed. "It comes naturally. You're way too un-romantic."

It was Inuyasha's turn to laugh. "That's why I need you to balance it out, **_wench_**."

Kagome's faced turned as red as a tomato.

"Y-YOU! SIT!"

::WHAM::

"OW! BITCH!"

"SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT!"

**:::::::::::THE END::::::::::: **

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

**WOOT!!!!! My first finished fanfic! Thank you all for all the support throughout this story! Please review! Thanks! **


End file.
